Free Order on Motion to Continue - District Court of California - California

Case 3:07-cv-02222-IEG-BLM

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1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION, INC., 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) PROFESSIONAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT ) INSTITUTE, LLC, and DOES 1-10, ) inclusive, ) ) ) Defendants. ) ) ) AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIM. ) ) On February 13, 2008, the Case No. 07cv2222-IEG (BLM) ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO RESCHEDULE EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION CONFERENCE [Doc. No. 18]

parties

filed

a

joint

motion

to

reschedule the Early Neutral Evaluation Conference (ENE) in this case due to the unavailability of Plaintiff's CEO on February 20, 2008. Doc. No. 18. The parties requested that the conference be moved to March 10, 2008 - the first date when all counsel and parties will be available. Id. Good cause appearing, the joint motion is GRANTED. hereby continued to March 10, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. The ENE is

The conference will

be held in the chambers of the Honorable Barbara L. Major, United States Magistrate Judge, located at 940 Front Street, Suite 5140, San Diego, California, 92101. The following are mandatory guidelines for the parties preparing for the Early Neutral Evaluation Conference.

07cv2222-IEG (BLM)

Case 3:07-cv-02222-IEG-BLM

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1.

Purpose of Conference: discussion between

The purpose of the ENE is to permit the attorneys, parties, and the

informal

settlement judge of every aspect of the lawsuit in an effort to achieve an early resolution of the case. All conference discussions will be

informal, off the record, privileged, and confidential. Counsel for any non-English speaking party is responsible for arranging for the

appearance of an interpreter at the conference. 2. Personal Appearance of Parties Required: All parties,

adjusters for insured defendants, and other representatives of a party having full and complete authority to enter into a binding settlement, and the principal attorneys responsible for the litigation, must be present in person and legally and factually prepared to discuss

settlement of the case.

Counsel appearing without their clients

(whether or not counsel has been given settlement authority) will be cause for immediate imposition of sanctions and may also result in the immediate termination of the conference. Unless there are extraordinary circumstances, persons required to attend the conference pursuant to this Order shall not be excused from personal attendance. Requests for excuse from attendance for

extraordinary circumstances shall be made in writing at least three (3) court days prior to the conference. Failure to appear at the ENE

conference will be grounds for sanctions. 3. Full Settlement Authority Required: In addition to counsel

who will try the case, a party or party representative with full settlement authority1 must be present for the conference. In the case

1

"Full settlement authority" means that the individuals at the settlement

conference must be authorized to explore settlement options fully and to agree at that

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of a corporate entity, an authorized representative of the corporation who is not retained outside counsel must be present and must have discretionary authority to commit the company to pay an amount up to the amount of the Plaintiff's prayer (excluding punitive damages prayers). The purpose of this requirement is to have representatives present who can settle the case during the course of the conference without consulting a superior. Counsel for a government entity may be excused

from this requirement so long as the government attorney who attends the ENE conference (1) has primary responsibility for handling the case, and (2) may negotiate settlement offers which the attorney is willing to recommend authority. 4. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than five (5) to the government official having ultimate settlement

court days prior to the ENE, the parties shall submit confidential statements no more than ten (10) pages2 in length directly to the chambers of the Honorable Barbara L. Major. These confidential Each

statements shall not be filed or served on opposing counsel. party's confidential statement must include the following: a. counterclaims

A brief description of the case, the claims and/or asserted, and the applicable defenses or position

time to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). The person needs to have "unfettered Pitman v.

discretion and authority" to change the settlement position of a party. Brinker Int'l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-86 (D. Ariz. 2003).

The purpose of requiring

a person with unlimited settlement authority to attend the conference contemplates that the person's view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. at 486. A limited or a sum certain of authority is not adequate. Id.

See Nick v. Morgan's

Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595-97 (8th Cir. 2001).
2

The parties shall not append attachments or exhibits to the ENE statement.

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regarding the asserted claims; b. A specific and current demand or offer for settlement

addressing all relief or remedies sought. If a specific demand or offer for settlement cannot be made at the time the brief is submitted, then the reasons therefore must be stated along with a statement as to when the party will be in a position to state a demand or make an offer; and c. A brief description of any previous settlement

negotiations, mediation sessions, or mediation efforts. General statements that a party will "negotiate in good faith" is not a specific demand or offer contemplated by this Order. assumed that all parties will negotiate in good faith. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: February 15, 2008 It is

BARBARA L. MAJOR United States Magistrate Judge

COPY TO: HONORABLE IRMA E. GONZALEZ U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE ALL COUNSEL

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