Opinion
Civil Action No. 07-cv-00885-PAB-BNB.
February 10, 2009
ORDER
This matter arises on Defendant Spirit Energy LLC's Motion to Impose Sanctions, Including the Dismissal of Plaintiff's Complaint, For Failure to Comply with Orders Regarding Settlement Conference; Certificate of Compliance [Doc. # 97, filed 1/30/2009] (the "Motion for Sanctions"), which is DENIED.
By an Order [Doc. # 96] dated January 21, 2009, I vacated a settlement conference set for January 23, 2009, based on the following:
Plaintiff's counsel has failed to provide a confidential settlement statement as required. Counsel for defendant Spirit Energy, LLC, has informed me that a settlement conference at this time would be a waste of resources. Pro se defendant Brian McCarthy does not intend to travel from Texas to attend the settlement conference.
Based on this Order and the plaintiff's failure to provide a confidential settlement statement, Spirit Energy seeks sanctions including dismissal of the case.
Dismissal is not appropriate on the facts presented here. I vacated the settlement conference based on the totality of the circumstances, including my conclusion after reviewing Spirit Energy's confidential settlement statement that a settlement conference would be a waste of resources. Significantly, although I noted in the Order that the plaintiff had failed to provide a confidential settlement statement, it also is true that Spirit Energy failed to submit an updated confidential statement and merely relied on its previous statement submitted on July 30, 2008.
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Sanctions is DENIED.