Jennett v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company

Filing 26

ORDER: Settlement Conference reset for 7/13/2011 at 10:00 AM before Magistrate Judge Joe Brown. No later than noon on 7/11/2011, Plaintiff and Defendant shall email to the undersigned at [e-mail], ex parte, separate settlement conference statements which shall specify their respective settlement positions. The parties shall exchange offers and demands at least three working days prior to the 7/13/2011, conference. Signed by Magistrate Judge Joe Brown on 6/7/11. (dt)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
AT NASHVILLE
BEVERLY J. JENNETT,
Plaintiff
v.
E.I. DuPONT De NEMOURS
and COMPANY,
Defendant

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)
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) Case 3:10-1175
) Judge Haynes/Bryant/Brown
) Jury Demand
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O R D E R

At the parties’ request, the settlement conference

set

for 10:30 a.m., June 9, 2011 is RESET for Wednesday,July 13, 2011
at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 783, 801 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee.
The parties are advised that unless otherwise permitted,
failure to be present with full settlement authority1 could result
in imposition of sanctions pursuant to Rule 16(f) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure.

If the parties need authority from any

other person, that person must be available by telephone, and the
undersigned Magistrate Judge must approve the absence in advance.
The representative present at the settlement conference must be in
a position to sign a binding agreement at the conclusion of the
conference, unless the Magistrate Judge has been notified of the
limitation in advance.
1

All named parties and their attorneys must attend. Nonindividual
parties must have a senior official present unless excused in advance by
the undersigned Magistrate Judge. Full settlement authority means the
ability of the Plaintiff to accept the last offer and the Defendant to
pay the last demand. If authority is limited, the party must notify the
Magistrate Judge in advance of the conference.

1.

No later than noon on July 11, 2011, Plaintiff and Defendant shall

email to the undersigned at [e-mail], ex
parte,

separate

settlement

conference

statements

specify their respective settlement positions.

which

shall

These settlement

conference statements shall not be filed with the Clerk nor served
on the other parties.

Nothing in the way of a jury speech shall be

contained in the settlement conference statements.

In their

respective statements, counsel for Plaintiff and Defendant shall
make a candid assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of both
sides of the case and shall give a good faith opinion of each
client’s probable success on the merits using a scale of 1 to 5,
with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
a)

Each

statement

shall

contain

a

summary

of

the

parties' respective views of the law as to the theory of
liability or defense.
(i)

Plaintiff’s

statement

shall

contain

an

assessment from Plaintiff’s viewpoint of Plaintiff’s
damages and the strengths and weaknesses of Plaintiff’s
position.
(ii)
assessment

Defendant’s
of

the

statement

Plaintiff’s

shall

damages,

contain

an

Defendant’s

exposure to those damages, and the respective strengths
and weaknesses of Defendant’s position.

2

c)

Nothing in the way of a jury speech shall be

contained in the settlement conference statements.
d)

Each statement shall contain an assessment of the

economic cost of proceeding to trial as well as any appeal.
e)

Each statement shall recount, with specificity, the

settlement discussions between the parties to date and the
most recent demand offer as each side has made.
f) Each statement will describe any particular obstacles
or impediments to settlement.
g)

Each settlement conference statement also shall

contain a statement of counsel’s best judgment as to the
amount which should be paid or received by his client in a
settlement of the case based on counsel’s evaluation and
opinion and after a full discussion with the client.
h)

Each statement shall include the maximum amount the

Defendant is willing to pay and the minimum amount the
Plaintiff is willing to accept at the present time,2 and any
other terms on which the client insists.
2.

In the event offers and demands have not previously been

made, the parties shall exchange offers and demands at least three
working days prior to the July 13, 2011, conference.

2

Essentially, the parties shall provide their “bottom line.”
However, the parties should be prepared to negotiate further from these
figures during the course of the settlement conference.

3

3.

Counsel

for

each

party

may

present

a

brief

opening

statement at the beginning of the settlement conference. Following
these statements, the Magistrate Judge will normally meet separately
with

the

parties,

Once

the

separate

meetings

have

concluded,

negotiations will proceed as necessitated by the particular case.
It is so ORDERED.
/s/ Joe B. Brown
JOE B. BROWN
United States Magistrate Judge

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