Fordley v. Lizarraga et al
Filing
106
ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 2/2/2022 SETTING Settlement Conference for 4/7/2022 at 01:00 PM before Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota and ORDERING parties to submit confidential settlement statements no later than 3/31/2022. (Henshaw, R)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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JOHN FREDERICK FORDLEY,
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No. 2:16-cv-1985-MCE-EFB P
Plaintiff,
v.
JOE LIZARRAGA, et al.,
ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT
CONFERENCE
Defendants.
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Plaintiff, a former state prisoner proceeding pro se, filed this civil rights action seeking
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relief under 42 U.S.C. §1983. The court has determined that this case will benefit from a
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settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota
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to conduct a settlement conference on April 7, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. The settlement conference will
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be conducted by remote means, with all parties appearing by Zoom video conference.
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In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
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1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota
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on April 7, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. The settlement conference will be conducted by remote
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means, with all parties appearing by Zoom video conference.
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2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding
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settlement on the defendants’ behalf shall attend in person 1.
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3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages.
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The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in
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person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not
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proceed and will be reset to another date.
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4. Parties are directed to submit confidential settlement statements no later than March
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31, 2022 to dmcorders@caed.uscourts.gov. If plaintiff does not have access to the
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internet, plaintiff shall mail his confidential settlement statement Attn: Magistrate
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Judge Dennis M. Cota, USDC CAED, 2986 Bechelli Lane, Suite 300, Redding,
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California 96002 so it arrives no later than March 31, 2022. The envelope shall be
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marked “CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT STATEMENT.” Parties are also directed
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to file a “Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement Statement” (See L.R.
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270(d)).
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Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on
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any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with
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the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon.
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While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the
authority to order parties, including the federal government, to participate in mandatory settlement
conferences… .” United States v. United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, 694 F.3d 1051,
1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012)(“the district court has broad authority to compel participation in mandatory
settlement conference[s].”). The term “full authority to settle” means that the individuals attending the
mediation conference must be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any
settlement terms acceptable to the parties. G. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648,
653 (7th Cir. 1989), cited with approval in Official Airline Guides, Inc. v. Goss, 6 F.3d 1385, 1396 (9th Cir. 1993).
The individual with full authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the
settlement position of the party, if appropriate. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-86 (D. Ariz.
2003), amended on recon. in part, Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 2003 WL 23353478 (D. Ariz. 2003). The
purpose behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of
the case may be altered during the face to face conference. Pitman, 216 F.R.D. at 486. An authorization to
settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to comply with the requirement of full
authority to settle. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 596-97 (8th Cir. 2001).
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The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length,
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typed or neatly printed, and include the following:
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a. A brief statement of the facts of the case.
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b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds upon
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which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of
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prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in
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dispute.
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c. A summary of the proceedings to date.
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d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and
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trial.
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e. The relief sought.
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f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a
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history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands.
g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement
conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay.
h. If the parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims
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not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above,
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including case number(s) if applicable.
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5. Judge Cota or another representative from the court will be contacting the parties
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either by telephone or in person, approximately two weeks prior to the settlement
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conference, to ascertain each party’s expectations of the settlement conference.
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Dated: February 2, 2022.
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