Opinion
1:19-CV-01390 SKO
06-23-2021
JOSE HADDOCK, Plaintiff, v. WESTROCK CP, LLC, Defendant.
ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE PROCEDURES
The Court sets a settlement conference for August 26, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., Courtroom 10, before Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean.
The Court is willing to conduct the conference in person or remotely, by Zoom. The parties shall meet and confer and email the Court at mrooney@caed.uscourts.gov no later than fourteen days from today regarding their preference. If all parties do not agree to conduct the conference by Zoom, or if the parties do not email the Court within fourteen days, the conference will take place in person.
Covid-19 restrictions, such as social distancing and masks1, may be required.
Unless otherwise permitted in advance by the Court, the attorneys who will try the case shall appear at the Settlement Conference. It is recommended that pertinent evidence to be offered at trial, documents or otherwise, be brought to the settlement conference for presentation to the settlement judge. Neither the settlement conference statements nor communications during the settlement conference with the settlement judge can be used by either party in the trial of this case.
Absent permission from the Court, in addition to counsel who will try the case being present, the individual parties shall also be present. In the case of corporate parties, associations or other entities, and insurance carriers, a representative executive with authority to discuss, consider, propose and agree, or disagree, to any settlement proposal or offer shall also be present. A representative with unlimited authority shall either attend in person or be available by phone throughout the conference. In other words, having settlement authority “up to a certain amount” is not acceptable.
IF ANY PARTY BELIEVES THAT A SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE WOULD BE FUTILE, THEN THAT PARTY SHALL CONTACT THE COURT NOT LATER THAN SEVENTY-TWO HOURS PRECEDING THE SCHEDULED SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE.
Confidential Settlement Statements
At least five (5) court days prior to the settlement conference, each party shall submit a Confidential Settlement Conference Statement in Word format directly to Judge Grosjean's Chambers at epgorders@caed.uscourts.gov. The statement shall not be filed on the docket or served on any other party. Each statement shall be clearly marked "confidential" with the date and time of the settlement conference clearly noted on the first page. 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.