Free Order - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

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1 ‘· ‘ "3· Case 3:03-cv-00667-SRU Document 19 Filed 03/04/2 04 Page1of3
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1 ““”‘DEES%RSEsT%SF D¤%i1&IC%2 é`i§%’R“` 1 F11,. 11.)
1 TERRA SMITH, wml MAR —U 1;) 3: 081
1 i itrll 1
1 VQ S CASE N0. 3: 3Cv667 (RNC) M
1 AUTO CITY INC., ET AL.,
1 Defendants. ; 1
1 wana.
The plaintiff commenced this action on Apri 14, 2003.1 On 1
January 13, 2004, the plaintiff filed a motion r questing a 1
settlement conference "for the purpose of early ettlement 1
1 discussions." (Doc. #13.) The plaintiff's moti n was granted 1
and a settlement conference was scheduled for Fe ruary 24, 2004 1
at 2:00 p.m. The undersigned issued a Calendar nd Settlement 1
Conference Order ordering, inter alia, the parti s to be present 1
at the conference and ordering counsel to submit an gg parge 1
conference memorandum not later than five workin days prior to 1
the conference. (Doc. #15.) 1
On February 12, 2004, the plaintiff filed a motion 1
requesuing that she herself be excused from atte ding the
settlement conference. She asked that her couns l be permitted
to attend the conference alone. The plaintiff c aimed that she Q
would 1suffer loss of income by attending the se tlement ' 1

1On April 23, 2003, Chief Judge Robert N. C atigny referred I
the case to the undersigned for all pretrial mat ers excluding 1
trial.1 (Doc. #3). 1
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I J Case 3:03-cv-00667-SRU Document 19 Filed 03/O4/2 O4 Page 2 of 3 !
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I confejence and is not in a financial position t loose [sic] half I
_ of a day's pay .... " (Doc. #16.) A telephonic tatus conference /
5 was scbeduled for February 19, 2004 at 2:30 p.m. to discuss the i
plaintdff's request. On February 12, 2004, the undersigned's J
staff balled counsel for both parties and left a voice message W
. informing them of the telephonic conference and requesting that i
{ they cbntact chambers to confirm their availability. Counsel for i
the defendants confirmed his availability. Plai tiff's counsel V
did not respond. The undersigned's staff again alled W
plaintiff's counsel on the morning of February 1 , 2004 and left i
another voice message stating the date and time f the telephonic i
status conference and asking him to contact cham ers to confirm
his availability. Plaintiff's counsel again did not respond. On `
the afternoon of the telephonic conference, only defendants' !
counsel called chambers to participate in the co ference call.
Because p1aintiff's counsel did not contact cham ers, the Q
conference call was not held. The plaintiff's m tion to be x
excused from attending the settlement conference was denied. l
(occ. #16 .)
-In addition to failing to participate in th conference call R
regarding the settlement conference, plaintiff's counsel failed 1
to submit an eg parte conference memorandum as o dered by the s
court.i .
on February 24, 2004, the day of the settle ent conference,
the plaintiff, defendants and defendants' counse appeared in I
chambens at the scheduled time of 2:00 p.m. The plaintiff's 5
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couns l was not present. Accordingly, at 2:48 p.m. the court I
dismi sed the parties and defendants' counsel. At approximately
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l 3:00 .m., the plaintiff's·counsel appeared in •hambers. Counsel
explawned that he was late because he had been 'nvolved in a car {
accideFt.2 . l
{ If the defendants wish to file any motion egarding the 1
1 above, they shall do so by no later than April 5, 2004. The i
{ plaint'ff's counsel shall serve on his client a copy of this y
X order, and shall file priif of same with the court. i
V S ORDERED this éé day of march, 2004 at rartford, N
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Connec icut. . `
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0 l . MAR mss ` ` 4
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUD E \
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2At 2:40 p.m., plaintiff's counsel called c ambers and left =
a voic message stating that he had been involved in a car
accide t and was on his way to the settlement co ference: The
messag was not retrieved by the undersigned's s·aff until after i
3:00 p.m. ¥
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