(PC) Baca v. Biter ( 2019 )

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 FRANK BACA, Case No. 1:15-cv-01916-DAD-JDP 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 15 MARTIN BITER, et al., Date: January 17, 2020 16 Defendants. Time: 9:30 a.m. Place: Courtroom 9 (SAB) 17 Before the Honorable Stanley A. Boone 18 Frank Baca (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding through counsel with this civil 19 rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983. The Court has determined that this case will benefit 20 from a settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Stanley A. 21 Boone to conduct a settlement conference at the U. S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, 22 California 93721 in Courtroom #9 on January 17, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. The Court will issue the 23 necessary transportation order in due course. 24 The court puts the parties on notice that if Plaintiff has any outstanding criminal 25 restitution obligations, fines and/or penalties, these settlement negotiations shall not be geared 26 towards what the restitution obligation is, but what the value of the case itself is to each side, 27 irrespective of any outstanding restitution obligation. 28 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 2 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone 3 on January 17, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. at the U. S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, 4 Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom #9. 5 2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding 6 settlement on the defendant’s behalf shall attend in person.1 7 3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 8 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in 9 person may result in the imposition of sanctions. The manner and timing of Plaintiff’s 10 transportation to and from the conference is within the discretion of CDCR. 11 4. Each party shall provide a confidential settlement statement no later than January 10, 12 2020 to the following email address: saborders@caed.uscourts.gov. Parties shall 13 also file a Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement Statement. See Local Rule 14 270(d)). 15 16 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on 17 any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with 18 the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 19 20 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 21 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the 22 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 23 1051, 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012) (“[T]he district court has broad authority to compel participation in mandatory settlement conference[s].”). The term “full authority to settle” means that the individuals 24 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 25 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 26 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). The purpose behind requiring the attendance of a 27 person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. Id. at 486. An authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be 28 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). 1 2 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 3 4 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 5 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, 1.e., statutory or other grounds upon 6 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 7 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in 8 dispute. 9 c. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and 10 trial. 11 d. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 12 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 13 e. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 14 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 15 f. Ifthe parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims 16 not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, 17 including case number(s) is applicable. 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 ( Caan Dated: _ December 11, 2019 21 UNIT#D STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28