Opinion
Case No.: 2:10-CV-03411-GEB-KJN.
September 9, 2011
PHILIP M. MILLER (SBN 87877), ANNE M. BEVINGTON (SBN 111320), JULIE A. OSTIL (SBN 215202), SALTZMAN JOHNSON LAW CORPORATION, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiffs.
ORRICK, HERINGTON SUTCLIFFE LLP, James Houpt, Attorney for Defendant.
STIPULATION AND [ PROPOSED ] ORDER FOR APPEARANCE OF PLAINTIFF REPRESENTATIVE AT SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE BY TELEPHONE STANDBY
The plaintiffs hereby request that the personal attendance of a representative of plaintiffs at the settlement conference in this matter be excused and that a plaintiff representative instead be available by telephone standby.
The plaintiffs in this matter are trustees of employee benefit trusts, who filed suit under ERISA to recover contributions allegedly owed to the trusts. The plaintiffs anticipate that the settlement discussions will focus on factual matters within the direct knowledge and control of defendant rather than plaintiffs. It would be a hardship for one or more trustees to travel from the Bay Area to Sacramento and lose at least one full day of work in order to attend a settlement conference which will only require their sporadic participation. (Upon defendant's motion, the case has already been transferred from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District in order to accommodate Mr. Gentry's travel issues and convenience.)
Subject to the Court's approval, defendant stipulates and agrees to plaintiffs' request that the trusts appear by having a trustee or trustees with settlement authority available on telephone standby, to be contacted by telephone when his, her, or their participation is required.