(PC) Pittman v. Kamen ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 EDWARD SIMEON PITTMAN, 1:18-cv-01316-DAD-GSA-PC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 13 v. May 26, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. 14 DR. KAMEN, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Edward Simeon Pittman (“Plaintiff”) is a prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 19 pauperis with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court has determined 20 that this case will benefit from a settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to 21 Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston for the court’s Settlement Week program to conduct a 22 settlement conference on May 26, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. The settlement conference will be 23 conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date and time. The court will issue the 24 necessary transportation order in due course. 25 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 26 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. 27 Thurston on May 26, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. The settlement conference will be 28 conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date and time. 1 2. Defendant’s lead counsel and a person with full and unlimited authority to negotiate 2 and enter into a binding settlement on defendant’s behalf shall attend in person.1 3 3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 4 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear 5 in person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will 6 not proceed and will be reset to another date. 7 4. No later than April 14, 2021, Plaintiff SHALL submit to Defendant by mail, a 8 written itemization of damages and a meaningful2 settlement demand, which 9 includes a brief explanation of why such a settlement is appropriate, not to exceed 10 ten pages in length. 11 5. No later than April 28, 2021, Defendant SHALL respond, by telephone or in 12 person, with an acceptance of the offer or with a meaningful counteroffer, which 13 includes a brief explanation of why such a settlement is appropriate. If settlement is 14 achieved, defense counsel is to immediately inform the courtroom deputy of 15 Magistrate Judge Thurston. 16 /// 17 18 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court 19 has the 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, 20 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th 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 21 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 Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989), 22 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 discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of the 23 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., Inc., 2003 WL 23353478 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose behind requiring the 24 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, 216 F.R.D. at 486. An authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum 25 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). 26 2 “Meaningful” means the offer is reasonably calculated to settle the case on terms acceptable to 27 the offering party. “Meaningful” does not include an offer which the offering party knows will not be acceptable to the other party. If, however, the offering party is only willing to offer a settlement which it knows the other 28 party will not accept, this should trigger a recognition the case is not in a settlement posture and the parties should confer about continuing the settlement conference via stipulation. 1 6. If settlement is not achieved informally, Defendant is directed to submit a 2 confidential settlement statement no later than May 12, 2021 to the following 3 email address: jltorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential 4 settlement statement Attn: Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston, U.S. District 5 Court, 510 19th Street, Bakersfield, California 93301, so it arrives no later than 6 May 12, 2021. The envelope shall be marked “Confidential Settlement Statement.” 7 Parties shall also file a “Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement 8 Statement.” (See Local Rule 270(d).) 9 10 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served 11 on any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” 12 with the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 13 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 14 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 15 16 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 17 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds 18 upon which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ 19 likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the 20 major issues in dispute. 21 c. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, 22 and trial. 23 d. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 24 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 25 e. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 26 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to 27 pay. 28 /// 1 f. If the parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims 2 not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, 3 including case number(s) is applicable. 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 6 Dated: March 3, 2021 /s/ Gary S. Austin UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28