Chen v. Allied Waste Systems, Inc.

Opinion

PLAINTIFF, QIHAI CHEN on behalf of Case No.: 3:22-cv-00099-JO-VET himself and a class of all others similarly situated, ORDER GRANTING JOINT Plaintiffs, FEBRUARY 21, 2024 MANDATORY v. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE AND ALLIED WASTE SYSTEMS, INC.; CONFERENCE REPUBLIC SERVICES, INC.; DOES 1-

50, inclusive, Doc. Nos. 108, 49, 100 Defendants.

Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Continue February 21, 2024 Mandatory Settlement Conference (“MSC”) and Case Management Conference (“CMC”) (the “Joint Motion”). Doc. No. 108. The parties seek a continuance of the MSC and CMC to allow the Court time to issue a ruling on the Plaintiffs’ renewed motion for class certification and time for the parties to evaluate their respective settlement positions. Id. at 2. The Court denied Plaintiffs’ renewed motion for class certification the same day the parties filed the Joint Motion. Doc. No. 110 and 111. However, based on a review of the record, good cause appears for the Court to continue the MSC and CMC so that the parties may evaluate their respective settlement positions in light of the Court’s February 14, 2024 Order. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the Joint Motion and AMENDS the operative scheduling orders (Doc. Nos. 49 and 100) as follows: 1. The MSC currently set for February 21, 2024 is hereby VACATED. The MSC is RESET to Monday, March 25, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. and shall be conducted by Zoom video conferencing before Magistrate Judge Valerie E. Torres.1 2. If the case does not settle during the MSC, the Court will immediately proceed with a CMC. No later than seven (7) calendar days prior to the scheduled MSC/CMC, the parties shall file a joint proposed schedule with proposed deadlines for expert disclosures, expert discovery, pretrial motions, and the pretrial conference. 3. The following are mandatory procedures to be followed in preparation for the MSC. Absent express permission from this Court, counsel must timely comply with the dates and deadlines herein. Questions regarding the MSC or the mandatory guidelines set forth herein may be directed to Judge Torres’ Chambers at (619) 557-6384. a. Full Settlement Authority Required. Pursuant to Local Rule 16.1.c.1, all parties, party representatives, including claims adjusters for insured parties, and the principal attorney(s) responsible for the litigation must participate in the MSC.2 This appearance must be made with full and complete authority to negotiate and enter into a binding settlement.3 1 Counsel may request the MSC be converted to an in-person appearance through a joint call or email to Judge Torres’ Chambers (efile_torres@casd.uscourts.gov). Counsel must meet and confer prior to making such a request. 2 The attendance requirement includes parties that are indemnified by others. Any deviation from this Order requires prior Court approval. 3 Full authority to settle means that the individuals at the MSC are authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). Party participants need to have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of a party. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-486 (D. Ariz. 2003). One of the purposes of requiring a person with complete b. Confidential Settlement Brief. No later than seven (7) calendar days before the MSC, each party must lodge a Confidential Settlement Brief by email to efile_torres@casd.uscourts.gov. The Confidential Settlement Brief should not exceed ten (10) pages, excluding exhibits, and must be formatted according to the requirements of Local Rule 5.1(a). Parties attaching exhibits must attach only the relevant pages of multi- page exhibits and must highlight the relevant portions. c. Contents of Settlement Brief. All Confidential Settlement Briefs shall linclude the content specified in the Court’s Chambers Rules, available at https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/torres/docs/Civil%20Chambers%20Rules.pdf. d. Procedure for Zoom Videoconference. No less than two (2) business days to the MSC, the Court will email counsel of record an invitation with the Zoom }meeting information. Participants can join the Zoom video conference by following the ZoomGov Meeting hyperlink or using the meeting ID and password provided. Each participant should plan to join the Zoom video conference at least five (5) minutes before start of the MSC. Counsel is responsible for ensuring their clients can participate in the MSC. All participants must display the same level of professionalism and attention during the MSC as if they were attending in person (e.g., not be driving while speaking to the Court, or otherwise distracted). Dated: February 16, 2024 [wre cK Honorable Valerie E. Torres United States Magistrate Judge be altered during the face-to-face conference. /d. at 486. Limited or sum certain authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595-597 (8th Cir. 2001).