Segura v. City of San Diego

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA HECTOR SEGURA, Case No.: 3:22-cv-01029-RBM-AHG 13 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ EX PARTE MOTION TO v. CONTINUE EARLY NEUTRAL CITY OF SAN DIEGO, et al., EVALUATION CONFERENCE AND CASE MANAGEMENT 16 Defendants.

CONFERENCE [ECF No. 23] 20 Before the Court is Defendants’ ex parte motion to continue the Early Neutral Evaluation Conference (“ENE”) and Case Management Conference (“CMC”), presently scheduled for July 12, 2023. ECF No. 23. Defendants request that the ENE and CMC be rescheduled because Defendants’ claims representative with settlement authority will be unavailable on that date. Id. at 2. Further, Defendants seek an extension of pre-conference deadlines because they have been unable to meet and confer with Plaintiff pursuant to Rule 26(f), as required by the Court’s order setting the ENE and CMC, despite numerous attempts via email, phone, letter, and personal service. ECF No. 23-1. Court staff also attempted to reach Plaintiff, to no avail. Email from Chambers (June 20, 2023, at 6:01 PM).

1 The Court appreciates Defendants’ thorough motion, and finds good cause to GRANT the motion as follows: 3 1. The Court reminds Plaintiff of his duty to comply with Court-ordered conferences and deadlines. One such deadline is the deadline to meet and confer with Defendants’ counsel pursuant to Rule 26(f). Further lack of participation by Plaintiff, such as by failing to participate in a Rule 26(f) conference or by failing to attend the ENE, will be considered grounds for the undersigned to issue an Order to Show Cause regarding a report and recommendation of dismissal for failure to prosecute. See FED. R. CIV. P. 41(b).

9 2. The ENE and CMC scheduled for July 12, 2023, are RESET for August 16, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. via videoconference before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. In accordance with the Local Rules, the Court requires attendance of all parties, party representatives, including claims adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) responsible for the litigation via videoconference. CivLR 16.1(c)(1).

14 3. Purpose of the Conference: The purpose of the ENE is to permit an informal discussion between the attorneys, pro se parties, and the 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, and confidential.

18 4. Full Settlement Authority Required: A party or party representative with full and complete authority to enter into a binding settlement must be present via videoconference. Full authority to settle means that a person must be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). The person needs to have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of a party. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485–86 (D. 25 Ariz. 2003). Limited or sum certain authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595–97 (8th Cir. 2001). A person who needs to call another person who is not present on the videoconference before agreeing to any settlement does not have full authority.

1 5. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than August 9, 2023, the parties shall submit confidential statements of five (5) pages or less directly to the chambers of Magistrate Judge Goddard outlining the nature of the case, the claims, and the defenses.

4 These statements shall not be filed or served on opposing counsel. They shall be lodged via email at [email protected]. The ENE statement is limited to five (5) pages or less, and up to five (5) pages of exhibits or declarations. Each party’s ENE statement must outline: 8 A. the nature of the case and the claims, 9 B. position on liability or defense, 10 C. position regarding settlement of the case with a specific1 11 demand/offer for settlement,2 and 12 D. any previous settlement negotiations or mediation efforts.

13 6. Case Management Conference: In the event the case does not settle at the ENE, the Court will immediately thereafter hold a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b). The Court orders the following to occur before the CMC: 16 A. The parties must meet and confer pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) no 17 later than July 24, 2023.

18 B. The parties must file a Joint Case Management Statement by 19 August 4, 2023. The Joint Case Management Statement must address 20 all points in the “Joint Case Management Statement Requirements for 21 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard,” which can be found on the 22 court website at: 1 A general statement, such as that a party “will negotiate in good faith,” is a not a specific demand or offer.

27 2 If a specific demand or offer cannot be made at the time the ENE statement is submitted, then the reasons as to why a demand or offer cannot be made must be stated. Further, the 1 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Join 2 t%20Case%20Management%20Statement%20Rules.pdf.

3 C. Initial disclosures pursuant to Rule 26(a)(1)(A-D) must occur by 4 August 7, 2023.

5 7. Appearances via Videoconference Required: All named parties, party representatives, including claims adjusters for insured defendants, as well as principal attorney(s) responsible for the litigation must attend the ENE via videoconference. All who attend the ENE must be legally and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case.

9 Counsel appearing without their clients (whether or not counsel has been given settlement authority) will be subject to immediate imposition of sanctions. To facilitate the videoconference ENE, the Court hereby orders as follows: 12 A. The Court will use its official Zoom video conferencing account to hold 13 the ENE. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom: Zoom is available on 14 computers through a download on the Zoom website 15 (https://zoom.us/meetings) or on mobile devices through the 16 installation of a free app.3 Joining a Zoom conference does not require 17 creating a Zoom account, but it does require downloading the .exe file 18 (if using a computer) or the app (if using a mobile device). Participants 19 are encouraged to create an account, install Zoom and familiarize 20 themselves with Zoom in advance of the ENE.4 There is a cost-free 21 option for creating a Zoom account.

22 B. Prior to the start of the ENE, the Court will email each participant an 23 invitation to join a Zoom video conference. Again, if possible, If possible, participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the video conference, rather than mobile devices.

4 For help getting started with Zoom, visit: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en- 1 participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the 2 video conference, as mobile devices often offer inferior performance.

3 Participants shall join the video conference by following the ZoomGov 4 Meeting hyperlink in the invitation. Participants who do not have 5 Zoom already installed on their device when they click on the 6 ZoomGov Meeting hyperlink will be prompted to download and 7 install Zoom before proceeding. Zoom may then prompt participants 8 to enter the password included in the invitation.

9 C. Each participant should plan to join the Zoom video conference at least 10 five minutes before the start of the ENE to ensure that the conference 11 begins promptly at 2:00 p.m.

12 D. Zoom’s functionalities will allow the Court to conduct the ENE as it 13 ordinarily would conduct an in-person one. The Court will divide 14 participants into separate, confidential sessions, which Zoom calls 15 Breakout Rooms.5 In a Breakout Room, the Court will be able to 16 communicate with participants from a single party in confidence.

17 Breakout Rooms will also allow parties and counsel to communicate 18 confidentially without the Court.

19 E. No later than August 9, 2023, each party shall send an e-mail to the 20 Court at [email protected] containing the following: 21 i. The name and title of each participant, including all parties 22 and party representatives with full settlement authority, claims 23 adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) 24 responsible for the litigation; / / For more information on what to expect when participating in a Zoom Breakout Room, 1 ii. An e-mail address for each participant to receive the Zoom 2 video conference invitation; 3 iii. A telephone number where each participant may be reached; 4 and 5 iv. A cell phone number for that party’s preferred point of 6 contact (and the name of the individual whose cell phone it is) 7 for the Court to use during the ENE to alert counsel via text 8 message that the Court will soon return to that party’s Breakout 9 Room, to avoid any unexpected interruptions of confidential 10 discussions.

11 F. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during 12 the ENE and be prepared to devote their full attention to the ENE as if 13 they were attending in person, i.e., cannot be driving or in a car while 14 speaking to the Court. Because Zoom may quickly deplete the battery 15 of a participant’s device, each participant should ensure that their 16 device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available during 17 the video conference.

18 G. Counsel are advised that although the ENE will take place on Zoom, all 19 participants shall appear and conduct themselves as if it is proceeding 20 in a courtroom, i.e., all participants must dress in appropriate courtroom 21 attire.

22 H. If the case does not settle during the ENE, the Court will hold the CMC 23 immediately following the ENE with counsel only in the main session.

24 8. The failure of any party to follow these mandatory procedures shall result in the imposition of sanctions.

26 / / / / / / l 9. Questions regarding this case or these mandatory guidelines may be directed || to Judge Goddard’s law clerks at (619) 557-6162. Lodged statements should be emailed to || [email protected].

4 IT IS SO ORDERED.

5 Dated: June 28, 2023 i Wioev tH. Hovland 6 Honorable Allison H. Goddard 7 United States Magistrate Judge