Free Order - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

NORTHERN WISCONSIN PRODUCE COMPANY, INC.,

) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) ) STEVE DELAPORTAS, JOANNE ) DELAPORTAS, and IONIAN FOODS, ) LLC, ) ) Defendants. ) ___________________________________)

No. 2:02-cv-2366-HRH

O R D E R Case Status A case status conference was held in this case on November 9, 2007. Prior to that conference, the court had received status

reports from both plaintiff and defendant Steven J. Delaportas.1 The parties' reports as well as discussions at the status conference strongly suggest that the parties need and desire to settle this case. 2007, a Plaintiff has now reported2 that on November 12, offer was forwarded to defendant Steven

settlement

Delaportas.

Plaintiff reports that it has received no response This silence is not in

whatever with respect to that offer.

1

Docket Nos. 112 & 114. Docket No. 116. - 1 -

2

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keeping

with

the

court's

understanding

of

what

the

parties

intended. Because of the court's firm conviction that the parties can and should settle this case without further delay, the parties will now be required to participate in a court-sponsored mediation (settlement conference). The court has heretofore informed

Mr. Delaportas that it is impermissible for him to appear and/or act as attorney for defendant Ionian Foods, LLC; however, for purposes of an informal mediation, the court requires that some representative of Ionian Foods (presumably Mr. Delaportas) will participate in the settlement conference. The clerk of court will please designate a resident United States magistrate judge to assist the parties to this case with a settlement conference. Once a designation has been made, counsel

for plaintiff will please take the initiative to obtain a date for the settlement conference. In the event that mediation of this case is unsuccessful, the court will call upon the parties for purposes of submitting to the court a schedule for the completion of development of this case for trial. The court understands that plaintiff has encountered The

difficulty locating an important witness ­ Robert Bertola.

court urges counsel for plaintiff to fix a date for Mr. Bertola's deposition, cause a subpoena to be issued, and solicit the

assistance of the federal probation officer who is supervising Mr. Bertola for purposes of effecting service of that subpoena. - 2 -

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Although this is a civil matter, the court requests the probation service to assist in this matter to the end that these proceedings may be completed as soon as possible and as economically as possible. DATED at Anchorage, Alaska, this 29th day of November, 2007.

/s/ H. Russel Holland United States District Judge

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