(PC) Garcia v. Perez

Opinion

RICHARD GARCIA, Case No. 1:17-cv-00865-NONE-JLT (PC) Plaintiff, ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE v. R. PEREZ, et al., Defendants. Plaintiff is a prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court has determined that this case will benefit from a settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean to conduct a settlement conference on December 17, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. The settlement conference will be conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date and time. The court will issue the necessary transportation order in due course. Thus, the Court ORDERS: 1. A settlement conference has been set for December 17, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean. The settlement conference will be conducted by remote means, to be determined at a later date and time. 2. The manner of parties’ appearance at the settlement conference may be amended to reflect the court’s policies at the time of the settlement conference related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 3. A representative with authority to negotiate and enter into a binding settlement shall attend in person.1 4. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not proceed and will be reset to another date. 5. Defendant shall provide a confidential settlement statement no later than December 10, 2020 to the following email address: epgorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential settlement statement, clearly captioned “Confidential Settlement Conference Statement,” Attn: Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean, United States District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Room 1501, Fresno, CA 93721 so that it arrives no later than December 10, 2020. Parties shall also file a Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement Conference Statement (See Local Rule 270(d)). Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, typed or neatly printed, and include the following: a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds upon which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in dispute. c. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and

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 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 authority to compel participation in mandatory settlement conference[s].”). trial. d. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. e. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. f. If the 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, including case number(s) if applicable. 6. The Clerk of the Court is directed to serve a copy of this order on the Litigation Coordinator for the Hawaii Department of Corrections via email. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: October 16, 2020 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE