Burgess v. Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP Long Term Disability Plan et al

Filing 59

ORDER EXCUSING REPRESENTATIVE FROM SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE. Signed by Judge James Larson on 11/20/08. (jlsec, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/20/2008)

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RONALD K.ALBERTS (SBN 1000 17) TAD A. DEVLIN (SBN 190355) GORDON & REES LLP 275 Battery Street, Suite 2000 San Francisco, CA 941 11 Telephone: (415) 986-5900 Facsimile: (415) 986-8054 Attorneys for Defendants THE PRUDENTLAL INSURANCE CO. OF AMERICA and TOWNSEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW LLP LONG-TERM DISABILITY PLAN UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT E-filing 1 II LINDA BURGESS, vs. FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA ! Plaintiff, CASE NO. C07-05310 (JSW) TOWNSEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW LLP LONG-TERM DISABILITY PLAN, Defendant. THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, Real Party in Interest. 1 PRUDENTIAL'S REPRESENTATIVE 1 TO APPEAR BY PHONE AT THE DEFENDANTS' REQUEST FOR 1 ) 1 MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE AND [PROPOSED] ORDER PERMITTING APPEARANCE ) BY PHONE Date: Time: i Before: 1 1 Location: ) I ' November 25,2008 10:OO a.m. Hon. James Larsgn Courtroom F, 15 Floor III Defendants The Prudential Insurance Company of America ("Prudential") and Townsend (andTownsend and Crew LLP Long Term Disability Plan (collectively "Defendants') IIrespectfully request leave from the Court for their representative, Len Giusti, to appear by phone I I I I I I I II 11 at the Mandatory Settlement Conference ("MSC") set for November 25,2008 at 10:OO a.m., before Hon. James Larson, Chief Magistrate Judge. In the alternative, Defendants request a continuance of the MSC date because Prudential cannot have a representative attend the MSC in has good cause to grant Prudential's request for I( II person on November 25,2008. The Court II telephonic appearance DEFENDANTS' REQUEST FOR PRUDENTIAL'S REPRESENTATIVE TO APPEAR BY PHONE AT THE MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE AND P P O S E D ] ORDER PERMITTING APPEARANCE BY PHONE C07-053 10 (JSW) Mr. Giusti is Prudential's in-house Litigation Manager and he is based in New Jersey. Mr. Giusti has numerous pending litigation matters that he is responsible for handling. Requiring Mr. Giusti to personally attend this MSC would be burdensome, cause undue cost and impact his ability to handle his entire caseload, all causing Prudential substantial hardship. If permitted to do so, Mr. Giusti will attend the MSC on November 25,2008 through a dedicated phone line, and will be able to participate in every phase of the MSC. Mr. Giusti has been involved in evaluating the issues in this case and the respective party positions since the filing of this lawsuit. Mr. Giusti has full authority to negotiate a settlement on behalf of Prudential in this action. Mr. Giusti is knowledgeable about the requirements for telephonic appearances under these circumstances. He has successfully made telephonic appearances at prior court ordered mediations and private ADR in this judicial district. Permitting Mr. Giusti to appear telephonically will not negatively impact the parties' ability to ~esolve case. the Prudential's counsel, Tad Devlin, met and conferred with Plaintiffs counsel, Laurence Padway, regarding this issue and Padway set forth an unreasonable objection to Mr. Giusti's phone appearance. On October 27; 2008, Devlin asked if Padway objected to Prudential's representative appearing at the MSC telephonically. (Exhibit A, Devlin's email correspondence with Padway.) Devlin advised Padway that Prudential's representative would be dedicated to attending the MSC by telephone and this would alleviate the burden of having Prudential's representative travel from New Jersey to attend the MSC. Devlin also advised Padway that a phone appearance, a opposed to a live appearance by Prudential's representative, would not s impact the MSC and the parties' ability to resolve the case. Padway responded that he would not stipulate to allow a telephonic appearance given ''the past history." (Exhibit A) Padway stated, "...we did not have a representative at the mediation, and we also did not have any realistic appraisal of the case at the mediation. So let's see if we do better with someone actually appearing this time. They can always save money by settling ahead of the hearing." (Exhibit A) 2 DEFENDANTS' REQUEST FOR PR

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