(PC) Jackson v. Quick ( 2023 )

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 CORNEL JACKSON, Case No. 1:19-cv-01591-JLT-EPG (PC) 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 15 JASON QUICK, et al., (ECF No. 132) 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff Cornel Jackson is a pretrial detainee proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in 19 this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court has determined that this case will 20 benefit from a settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney to conduct a settlement conference on March 23, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. The 21 settlement conference will be conducted by remote means, with all parties appearing by Zoom 22 video conference. 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 March 23, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. The settlement conference will be conducted 26 by remote means, with all parties appearing by Zoom video conference. 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 2 individual with full authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and 3 authority” to change the settlement position of the party, if appropriate. The purpose 4 behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the 5 parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face-to-face conference. An 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 March 8 16, 2023, 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 March 16, 11 2023. 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 4. 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” 16 with the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 17 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 18 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 19 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 20 21 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 settlement 22 conferences… .” United States v. United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, 694 F.3d 1051, 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012)(“[T]he district court has broad authority to compel participation in 23 mandatory settlement conference[s].”). The 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 24 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 Airline Guides, Inc. v. Goss, 6 25 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. Brinker 26 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 27 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 28 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 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds upon 3 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 4 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in 5 dispute. 6 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 7 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and trial. 9 e. The relief sought. f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. " g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 2 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 13 h. Ifthe parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, 15 including case number(s) if applicable. 16 17 | IT IS SO ORDERED. 'S | Dated: _ January 23, 2023 [pp ny — 19 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28