(PC) Williams v. Thompson ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOHN WESLEY WILLIAMS, 1:19-cv-00330 NONE JLT (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 13 v. DATE: October 8, 2020 14 THOMPSON, et al., TIME: 1:00 p.m. 15 Defendants. 16 17 The parties responded to this Court’s order referring the case to the post-screening ADR 18 project that they believed a settlement conference would be beneficial in this case. (Docs. 40- 19 41.) Accordingly, the Court ORDERS: 20 1. This case is set for a settlement conference on October 8, 2020, at 1:00 p.m., before 21 Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston using Zoom video-conferencing. 22 2. Defense counsel shall arrange for Plaintiff’s participation in the settlement conference. 23 Prior to the conference, counsel shall contact the Courtroom Deputy, Susan Hall, at 24 shall@caed.uscourts.gov to arrange for the Zoom video conference. 25 3. Each party or a representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter 26 into a binding settlement on defendants’ behalf shall attend in person.1 27 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the authority to 28 order parties, including the federal government, to participate in mandatory settlement conferences… .” United 1 4. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 2 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in 3 person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not 4 proceed and will be reset to another date. 5 5. No later than August 27, 2020, Plaintiff SHALL submit to Defendants, by mail, a 6 written itemization of damages and a meaningful settlement demand, which includes a 7 brief explanation of why such a settlement is appropriate, not to exceed ten pages in 8 length. 9 6. No later than September 10, 2020, Defendants SHALL respond, by telephone or in 10 person, with an acceptance of the offer or with a meaningful counteroffer, which 11 includes a brief explanation of why such a settlement is appropriate. If settlement is 12 achieved, defense counsel is to immediately inform the Courtroom Deputy of 13 Magistrate Judge Thurston. 14 7. If settlement is not achieved informally, Defendants are directed to submit confidential 15 settlement statements no later than September 24, 2020 to the following email 16 address: jltorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential settlement 17 statement to United States District Court, Attn: Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston, 18 2500 Tulare Street, Room 1501, Fresno, CA 93721 so that it arrives no later than 19 September 24, 2020. The envelope shall be marked “Confidential Settlement 20 Statement.” Parties shall also file a “Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement 21 Statement.” (See Local Rule 270(d).) 22 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on any 23 2012)(“the district court has broad authority to compel participation in mandatory settlement conference[s].”). The 24 term “full authority to settle” means that the individuals 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. 25 Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat 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 26 have “unfettered 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), amended on recon. in part, Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., 27 Inc., 2003 WL 23353478 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. Pitman, 28 216 F.R.D. at 486. An authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to comply 1 other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with the date and 2 time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. The confidential settlement 3 statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, typed or neatly printed, and include the 4 following: 5 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 6 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds upon 7 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 8 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in 9 dispute. 10 c. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and 11 trial. 12 d. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 13 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 14 e. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 15 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 16 f. If the parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims 17 not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, 18 including case number(s) is applicable. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 21 Dated: August 7, 2020 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28