Opinion
Case No. 2:10-cv-00262-PMP-PAL.
July 27, 2010
ORDER (Request for Exemption — Dkt. #23)
Before the court is Defendant's Request for an Exception (Dkt. #23). The requests asks that Defendant Jacqueline R. Betterton and the insurance adjuster assigned to this case, who both live in Utah, be excused from the personal attendance requirement of the court's order setting this matter for a scheduling conference. The grounds for the requested extension is the "time and expense associated with traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada."
The parties filed a Stipulation to Extend the Deadlines and Rebuttal Experts for sixty days following a mandatory settlement conference, and requested that the court set a mandatory settlement conference. The court granted the parties' request for an early settlement conference, and set the matter for August 25, 2010. The court's order (Dkt. #20) requires all individual parties to be present and that a representative of an insurance carrier with authority to settle this matter up to the full amount of the claim or last demand made must be present for the duration of the settlement conference. It is rarely productive to have individuals and those with settlement authority participating telephonically. Thus, the fact that there is some inconvenience and expense involved in appearing is not sufficient cause for the requested exception.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED Defendant's Request for an Exception (Dkt. #23) is DENIED.