(PC) Powell v. Paulin ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ADAM CLAYTON POWELL, No. 2:19-cv-2459 DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 14 COUNTY OF SOLANO, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a former county and current state inmate proceeding pro se with a civil rights 18 action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983. The court has determined that this case will benefit from a 19 settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. 20 Delaney to conduct a settlement conference on February 22, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. The settlement 21 conference will be conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date and time. The 22 court will issue the necessary transportation order in due course. 23 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 24 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. 25 Delaney on February 22, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. The settlement conference will be 26 conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date and time. 27 2. Parties are instructed to have a principal with full settlement authority present at the 28 Settlement Conference or to be fully authorized to settle the matter on any terms. The 1 individual with full authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and 2 authority” to change the settlement position of the party, if appropriate. The purpose 3 behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the 4 parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. An 5 authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to 6 comply with the requirement of full authority to settle1. 7 3. Parties are directed to submit confidential settlement statements no later than February 8 15, 2021 to ckdorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential 9 settlement statement Attn: Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney, USDC CAED, 501 I 10 Street, Suite 4-200, Sacramento, California 95814 so it arrives no later than February 11 15, 2021. The envelope shall be marked “CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT 12 STATEMENT.” Parties are also directed to file a “Notice of Submission of 13 Confidential Settlement Statement” (See L.R. 270(d)). 14 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on 15 any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with 16 the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 17 //// 18 19 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the authority to order parties, including the federal government, to participate in mandatory 20 settlement conferences… .” United States v. United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, 694 F.3d 1051, 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012)(“the district court has broad 21 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 22 authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms 23 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 Airline Guides, Inc. v. Goss, 6 F.3d 1385, 1396 (9th 24 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. Brinker Int’l., 25 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 26 person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of the case may be altered during the 27 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. 28 Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 596-97 (8th Cir. 2001). 1 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 2 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 3 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 4 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, 1.e., statutory or other grounds upon 5 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 6 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in 7 dispute. 8 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 9 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and 10 trial. 11 e. The relief sought. 12 f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 13 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 14 g. 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 h. Ifthe 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) if applicable. 19 4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to serve a copy of this order on the Litigation Office 20 at Folsom State Prison, via facsimile at (916) 351-3086 or via email. 21 | Dated: December 6, 2020 23 A ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 25 26 27 | DB:12 DB: 1/Orders/Prisoner/Civil.Rights/powe2459.med 28