(PC) Faulks v. Yang ( 2019 )

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 RICHARD FAULKS, No. 2:18-CV-2528-WBS-DMC P 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 15 S. YANG, 16 Defendant. 17 18 Plaintiff, who is proceeding with counsel, brings this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. 19 §1983. The court has determined that this case will benefit from a settlement conference. 20 Therefore, this case will be set for a settlement conference before the undersigned to occur at the 21 U. S. District Court, 501 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814 in Courtroom #4 on December 22 13, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. 23 Parties will be required to file a signed “Waiver of Disqualification” included below, or 24 notice of non-waiver of disqualification, no later than December 6, 2019. 25 A separate order and writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum will issue concurrently with 26 this order. 27 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 28 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before the undersigned to occur on 2 December 13, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. at the U. S. District Court, 501 I Street, Sacramento, 3 California 95814 in Courtroom #4. 4 2. Parties are required to file a signed “Waiver of Disqualification,” or notice of non- 5 waiver of disqualification, no later than December 6, 2019. 6 3. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding 7 settlement on the defendants’ behalf shall attend in person.1 8 4. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 9 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in 10 person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not 11 proceed and will be reset to another date. 12 5. Parties are directed to submit confidential settlement statements no later than 13 December 6, 2019 to dmcorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Parties are also directed to file a 14 “Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement Statement” (See L.R. 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 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 22 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the authority to 23 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 Cir. 24 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 to 25 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). 1 2 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 20 21 Dated: October 17, 2019 22 DENNIS M. COTA 23 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 25 26 27 28 2 3 4 5 6 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 RICHARD FAULKS, No. 2:18-CV-2528-WBS-DMC P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. WAIVER OF DISQUALIFICATION 13 S. YANG, 14 Defendant. 15 Under Local Rule 270(b) of the Eastern District of California, the parties to the 16 herein action affirmatively request that Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota participate in the 17 settlement conference scheduled for December 13, 2019. To the extent the parties consent to trial 18 of the case before the assigned Magistrate Judge, they waive any claim of disqualification to the 19 assigned Magistrate Judge trying the case thereafter. 20 By: Attorney for Plaintiff 21 Dated:_________________ 22 23 By: 24 Attorney for Defendant 25 Dated:_________________ 26 27 28