Opinion
McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP, Mart B. Oller IV, Fresno, California, Attorneys for Defendants FRESNO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, TERESA MONPERE, CHRISTIE YANG and RON BOHIGIAN.
Todd Boley, Attorneys for Plaintiffs LEDELLDRA BROOKS and A.J., a minor by and through her guardian ad litem LEDELLDRA BROOKS.
STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER RE SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE (Doc. 23)
JENNIFER L. THURSTON, Magistrate Judge.
The parties through their respective counsel have agreed to conduct a Settlement Conference with Magistrate Judge Jennifer Thurston on August 25, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 6. The parties have met and conferred and have agreed that the individual defendants: YANG, BOHIGIAN and MONPERE need not personally appear at the Settlement Conference.
ORDER
Based on the foregoing, the Court ORDERS:
1. A settlement conference is set on August 25, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 6 before Magistrate Judge Jennifer Thurston;
2. Unless otherwise permitted in advance by the Court, the attorneys who will try the case shall appear at the Settlement Conference with the parties and the person or persons having full authority to negotiate and settle the case on any terms at the conference. Defendants YANG, BOHIGIAN and MONPERE need not personally appear at the Settlement Conference.
Insurance carriers, business organizations, and governmental bodies or agencies whose settlement agreements are subject to approval by legislative bodies, executive committees, boards of directors or the like shall be represented by a person or persons who occupy high executive positions in the party organization and who will be directly involved in the process of approval of any settlement offers or agreements. To the extent possible the representative shall have the authority, if he or she deems it appropriate, to settle the action on terms consistent with the opposing party's most recent demand.
3. Consideration of settlement is a serious matter that requires preparation prior to the settlement conference. Set forth below are the procedures the Court will employ, absent good cause, in conducting the conference:
a. No later than August 19, 2015 at noon, Plaintiff SHALL submit to Defendant via fax or e-mail, a written itemization of damages and a meaningful settlement demand which includes a brief explanation of why such a settlement is appropriate;
"Meaningful" means that the offer is reasonably calculated to settle the case on terms acceptable to the offering party. "Meaningful" does not include an offer which the offering party knows will not be acceptable to the other party. If the offering party is only willing to make an offer that he/she knows the other party will not accept, this should trigger a recognition the case is not in a settlement posture and the parties should confer about continuing or vacating the settlement conference via stipulation.
b. Thereafter, no later than August 21, 2015 at noon, Defendant SHALL respond, via fax or e-mail, with an acceptance of the offer or with a meaningful counteroffer, which includes a brief explanation of why such a settlement is appropriate.
c. If settlement is not achieved, each party SHALL attach copies of their settlement offers to their Confidential Settlement Conference Statement, as described below. Copies of these documents shall not be filed on the court docket.
d. No later than August 24, 2015 at noon, the parties shall submit, directly to Judge Thurston's chambers by e-mail to JLTOrders@caed.uscourts.gov, a Confidential Settlement Conference Statement. The statement should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on any other party, although the parties may file a Notice of Lodging of Settlement Conference Statement. Each statement shall be clearly marked "confidential" with the date and time of the Settlement Conference indicated prominently thereon. The Confidential Settlement Conference Statement shall 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. A summary of the proceedings to date;
D. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial and trial;
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.
IT IS SO ORDERED.