Opinion
2:18-CV-01241-JCM-NJK
11-21-2022
SONALOLITA WILSON Plaintiff v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; LICETH DEMHA-SANTIAGO; JUAN DEMHA; DOES I THROUGH X; AND ROE CORPORATIONS 1 THROUGH X, Defendants. ALL RELATED MATTERS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SKYLER PEARSON, Assistant United States Attorney, Counsel for Defendant United States of America HALL JAFFE & CLAYTON, LLP, STEVEN JAFFEE, ESQ., JAN K. TOMASIK, ESQ. Counsel for Defendants Demha-Santiago and Juan Demha BRADLEY S. MAINOR, ESQ., JOSEPH J. WIRTH, ESQ., ASH MARIE BLACKBURN, ESQ., MAINOR WIRTH, LLP, Counsel for Plaintiff
UNITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SKYLER PEARSON, Assistant United States Attorney, Counsel for Defendant United States of America
HALL JAFFE & CLAYTON, LLP, STEVEN JAFFEE, ESQ., JAN K. TOMASIK, ESQ. Counsel for Defendants Demha-Santiago and Juan Demha
BRADLEY S. MAINOR, ESQ., JOSEPH J. WIRTH, ESQ., ASH MARIE BLACKBURN, ESQ., MAINOR WIRTH, LLP, Counsel for Plaintiff
STIPULATION AND ORDER TO CONTINUE TRIAL (FIRST REQUEST)
Pursuant to LR IA 6-1, the parties, by and through their respective counsel of record, hereby stipulate and request that this Court continue trial in the above-captioned matter to accommodate a private mediation with Ret. Judge Jennifer Togliatti on February 22, 2023.
A. Reasons For the Continuance
The parties have been discussing the potential for alternative resolution prior to trial. The case was not referred for a settlement conference in front of a United States Magistrate Judge as seems to be the usual course following the filing of a Proposed Joint Pre-Trial Order. As such, the parties discussed other alternative routes to resolution outside of trial.
Recently, the United States of America received approval and agreed to participate in private mediation with Ret. Judge Jennifer Togliatti, with stipulations. Before agreeing to and receiving authority to engage in a private mediation the following circumstances had to be overcome. First, the U.S. Attorney's Office currently only has three AUSAs and three unfilled AUSA positions in the relatively small defensive section of the Civil Division. Second, but relatedly, during the past few months, undersigned defense counsel have been busy in particular with written and deposition discovery, motion practice, hearings, and settlement conferences, responding to new complaints, and getting up to speed with additional cases and deadlines in cases the undersigned have taken over after other AUSAs left the office. Third, the Deputy Civil Chief for the Defensive Section of the Civil Division departed. This departure required additional time for the undersigned AUSAs to recommend to and receive approval from management at the U.S Attorney's Office to mediate the case. And finally, the U.S. Attorney's Office encountered funding issues due to the end of the Federal Government's fiscal year; there are typically several weeks during September-October during which the office cannot obligate funds for such things as retaining an expert or private mediator. Once the foregoing issues were overcome, the United States was able to agree to participate in a private mediation as described above. However, the soonest that Judge Togliatti has available to mediate this case is February 22, 2023. The parties have already reserved said date, pending a continuance of trial, which is set for January 23, 2023.
B. Proposed Trial Dates
The parties have discussed their availability for trial after the mediation on February 22, 2023. The following are alternative dates to schedule trial: April 10, 2023, April 17, 2023, or May 15, 2023.
IT IS SO ORDERED that the trial currently set for January 23, 2023 be continued to April 10, 2023, at 9:00 a.m.; and the Calendar Call currently set for January 18, 2023, at 1:30 p.m., be continued to April 5, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.
ORDER