Nall et al v. Howard Industries, Inc.

Filing 78

SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE ORDER: Settlement Conference set for 4/2/2014 at 9:30 AM before Magistrate Judge Joe Brown. Telephone Conference set for 3/24/2014 at 1:30 PM before Magistrate Judge Joe Brown. By 12:00 NOON on Monday, 3/31/2014, Plaintiffs and Defendant shall email to the undersigned at [e-mail], ex parte, separate settlement conference statements which shall specify their respective settlement positions. Parties shall exchange offers and demands at least three working days prior to the 4/2/2014, conference. Signed by Magistrate Judge Joe Brown on 3/18/2014. (DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(dt)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
SCOTT NALL III, TAMMIE AKIN,
and WICKLIFF MOORE, JR.,
Plaintiffs
v.
HOWARD INDUSTRIES, INC.,
d/b/a A to Z MUNI-DOT COMPANY,
Defendant

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No. 3:12-0745
Judge Haynes/Brown
Jury Demand

SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE ORDER
A settlement conference is set for 9:30 a.m., on April 2,
2014, in Courtroom 783, 801 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee.1
A telephone conference with Magistrate Judge Brown to
discuss the upcoming settlement conference is set for March 24,
2014,

at

1:30

p.m.

To

participate

in

the

conference

call,

parties will call 615-695-2851 at the scheduled time.
The parties are advised that unless otherwise permitted,
failure to be present with full settlement authority2 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
1

The parties are advised that they should not schedule anything else
on this date and should be prepared to spend the entire day in this
settlement conference, if necessary. If any party has other engagements
that would interfere with the settlement conference at any time during
the day, such party must notify the Magistrate Judge of this fact in
advance of the settlement conference.
2

All named parties and their attorneys must attend. Non-individual
parties must have a senior official present unless excused in advance by
the Magistrate Judge. Full settlement authority means the ability of the
Plaintiffs 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.

other person, that person must be available by phone, and the
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.
conference

may

well

The parties are advised the settlement
run

past

dinner

and

they

should

plan

accordingly.
1.

By 12:00 NOON on Monday, March 31, 2014, Plaintiffs and

Defendant

shall

email

tnmd.uscourts.gov,
statements

which

ex

to

the

parte,

shall

undersigned
separate

specify

their

at

brownchambers@

settlement

conference

respective

settlement

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

In their

respective statements, counsel for Plaintiffs 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. Nothing in the way
of a jury speech shall be contained in the settlement conference
statements.
a)

Each

statement

shall

contain

a

summary

of

the

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

Plaintiffs’

statement
2

shall

contain

an

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

Defendant’s
of

the

statement

Plaintiffs’

shall

damages,

contain

an

Defendant’s

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

Each statement shall contain an assessment of the

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

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.
e) Each statement will describe any particular obstacles
or impediments to settlement.
f)

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.
g)

Each statement shall include the maximum amount the

Defendant is willing to pay and the minimum amount the
Plaintiffs are willing to accept at the present time,3 and any
other terms on which the client insists.

3

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

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 April 2, 2014, conference.
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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