(PC) Cuentas v. Frauenheim ( 2020 )

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 RAUL CUENTAS, Case No. 1:19-cv-01700-AWI-EPG (PC) 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 15 M. SANCHEZ, et al., 16 Defendants. 17 18 Raul Cuentas (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in 19 this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court has determined that this case 20 will benefit from a settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate 21 Judge Kendall J. Newman to conduct a settlement conference on December 8, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. 22 The settlement conference will be conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date 23 and time. The Court will issue the necessary transportation order in due course. 24 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 25 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Kendall J. 26 Newman on December 8, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. The settlement conference will be 27 conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date and time. 28 2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding 2 settlement on Defendants’ behalf shall participate in the conference.1 3 3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses, and damages at 4 issue in this case. The failure of any counsel, party, or authorized person subject to 5 this order to appear may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the 6 conference will not proceed and will be reset to another date. 7 4. The parties are directed to exchange non-confidential settlement statements seven days 8 prior to the settlement conference. These statements shall simultaneously be delivered 9 to the court using the following email address: kjnorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff 10 shall mail his non-confidential settlement statement Attn: Magistrate Judge Kendall J. 11 Newman, USDC CAED, 501 I Street, Suite 4-200, Sacramento, CA 95814, so that it 12 arrives at least seven (7) days prior to the settlement conference. The envelope shall 13 be marked “SETTLEMENT STATEMENT.” The date and time of the settlement 14 conference shall be prominently indicated on the settlement statement. If a party 15 desires to share additional confidential information with the court, that party may do 16 so pursuant to the provisions of Local Rule 270(d) and (e). 17 \\\ 18 \\\ 19 \\\ 20 \\\ 21 \\\ 22 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the 23 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 24 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 25 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 26 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. 27 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 28 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). wow 4:40 EEUU NS MMC i OO VOI EN MV VI 1 2 5. The Clerk of Court is directed to serve a copy of this order on the Litigation 3 Coordinator at Mule Creek State Prison via email. 4 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 | Dated: _ August 5, 2020 [sf hey □ 7 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28