1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 SASHA RISMAN, Case No.: 3:25-cv-00309-DMS-AHG 13 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE EARLY 14 v. NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND 15 COX COMMUNICATIONS CASE MANAGEMENT CALIFORNIA, LLC, RADIUS GLOBAL CONFERENCE 16 SOLUTIONS, LLC, EXPERIAN 17 INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC., ECF No. 16 DOES 1-10 18 inclusive 19 Defendants. 20

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22 23 24 25 Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Continue the Early Neutral 26 Evaluation (“ENE”) and Case Management Conference (“CMC”). ECF No. 16. The parties 27 seek an order from the Court continuing the ENE and CMC by 60 days. Id. 28 1 The parties represent to the Court that they have been working diligently to engage 2 in informal settlement discussions and investigate the matters underlying the dispute. Id. 3 The parties provide that continuing the ENE and CMC will give the parties time to 4 potentially reach an informal settlement without requiring an ENE. Id. The Court 5 appreciates that the parties are cooperating with each other and finds good cause to 6 GRANT the motion. Id. 7 Accordingly, the ENE and CMC are RESET to July 25, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. via 8 videoconference before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. In accordance with the 9 Local Rules, the Court requires attendance of all parties, party representatives, including 10 claims adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) responsible for the 11 litigation via videoconference. CivLR 16.1(c)(1). 12 The Court issues the following Mandatory Procedures to be followed in 13 preparation for the ENE: 14 1. Purpose of the Conference: The purpose of the ENE is to permit an informal 15 discussion between the attorneys and the settlement judge of every aspect of the lawsuit in 16 an effort to achieve an early resolution of the case. All conference discussions will be 17 informal, off the record, and confidential. 18 2. Full Settlement Authority Required: A party or party representative with 19 full and complete authority to enter into a binding settlement must be present via 20 videoconference. Full authority to settle means that a person must be authorized to fully 21 explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to 22 the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp.,

(7th Cir. 23 1989). The person needs to have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the 24 settlement position of a party. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l, Inc.,

, 485–86 (D.

). Limited or sum certain authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, 26 Inc.,

, 595–97 (8th Cir. 2001). A person who needs to call another person 27 who is not present on the videoconference before agreeing to any settlement does not 28 have full authority. 1 3. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than July 18, 2025, the 2 parties shall submit confidential statements of five (5) pages or less directly to the chambers 3 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 5 via email at [email protected]. The ENE statement is limited to five (5) 6 pages or less. There is not a page limit on exhibits. Each party’s ENE statement must 7 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 The Court may use GenAI tools to review the information that the parties submit. Either 14 party may object to the Court’s use of such tools by advising the Court’s law clerk of that 15 objection when they submit the information. The Court will respect that objection without 16 any further explanation, and the Court’s law clerk will only communicate to Judge Goddard 17 that there was an objection, not which party made the objection. 18 4. Case Management Conference: In the event the case does not settle at the 19 ENE, the Court will immediately thereafter hold a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) 20 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b). Appearance of the parties at the CMC is not required. 21 The Court orders the following to occur before the CMC: 22 A. The parties must meet and confer pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) no 23

24 25 1 A general statement, such as that a party “will negotiate in good faith,” is not a specific demand or offer. 26

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 28 1 later than July 3, 2025. 2 B. The parties must file a Joint Case Management Statement by 3 July 15, 2025. The Joint Case Management Statement must address 4 all points in the “Joint Case Management Statement Requirements for 5 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard,” which can be found on the 6 court website at: 7 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Join 8 t%20Case%20Management%20Statement%20Rules.pdf. 9 C. Initial disclosures pursuant to Rule 26(a)(1)(A-D) must occur by 10 July 18, 2025. 11 5. Appearances via Videoconference Required: All named parties, party 12 representatives, including claims adjusters for insured defendants, as well as principal 13 attorney(s) responsible for the litigation must attend the ENE via videoconference. All who 14 attend the ENE must be legally and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case. 15 Counsel appearing without their clients (whether or not counsel has been given settlement 16 authority) will be subject to immediate imposition of sanctions. To facilitate the 17 videoconference ENE, the Court hereby orders as follows: 18 A. The Court will use its official Zoom video conferencing account to hold 19 the ENE. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom: Zoom is available on 20 computers through a download on the Zoom website 21 (https://zoom.us/meetings) or on mobile devices through the 22 installation of a free app.3 Joining a Zoom conference does not require 23 creating a Zoom account, but it does require downloading the .exe file 24 (if using a computer) or the app (if using a mobile device). Participants 25

26 27 3 If possible, participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the video conference, rather than mobile devices. 28 1 are encouraged to create an account, install Zoom and familiarize 2 themselves with Zoom in advance of the ENE.4 There is a cost-free 3 option for creating a Zoom account. 4 B. Prior to the start of the ENE, the Court will email each participant an 5 invitation to join a Zoom video conference. Again, if possible, 6 participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the 7 video conference, as mobile devices often offer inferior performance. 8 Participants shall join the video conference by following the ZoomGov 9 Meeting hyperlink in the invitation. Participants who do not have 10 Zoom already installed on their device when they click on the 11 ZoomGov Meeting hyperlink will be prompted to download and 12 install Zoom before proceeding. Zoom may then prompt participants 13 to enter the password included in the invitation. 14 C. Each participant should plan to join the Zoom video conference at least 15 five minutes before the start of the ENE to ensure that the conference 16 begins promptly at 9:30 a.m. 17 D. Zoom’s functionalities will allow the Court to conduct the ENE as it 18 ordinarily would conduct an in-person one. The Court will divide 19 participants into separate, confidential sessions, which Zoom calls 20 Breakout Rooms.5 In a Breakout Room, the Court will be able to 21 communicate with participants from a single party in confidence. 22 Breakout Rooms will also allow parties and counsel to communicate 23 confidentially without the Court. 24

25 4 For help getting started with Zoom, visit: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en- 26 us/categories/200101697-Getting-Started 27 5 For more information on what to expect when participating in a Zoom Breakout Room, 28 1 E. No later than July 18, 2025, counsel for each party shall send an e-mail 2 to the Court at [email protected] containing the 3 following: 4 i. The name and title of each participant, including all parties 5 and party representatives with full settlement authority, claims 6 adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) 7 responsible for the litigation; 8 ii. An e-mail address for each participant to receive the Zoom 9 videoconference invitation; 10 iii. A telephone number where each participant may be reached; 11 and 12 iv. A cell phone number for that party’s preferred point of 13 contact (and the name of the individual whose cell phone it is) 14 for the Court to use during the ENE to alert counsel via text 15 message that the Court will soon return to that party’s Breakout 16 Room, to avoid any unexpected interruptions of confidential 17 discussions. 18 F. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during 19 the ENE and be prepared to devote their full attention to the ENE as if 20 they were attending in person, i.e., cannot be driving or in a car while 21 speaking to the Court. Because Zoom may quickly deplete the battery 22 of a participant’s device, each participant should ensure that their 23 device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available during 24 the videoconference. 25 G. Counsel are advised that although the ENE will take place on Zoom, all 26 participants shall appear and conduct themselves as if it is proceeding 27 in a courtroom, i.e., all participants must dress in appropriate courtroom 28 attire. 1 H. If the case does not settle during the ENE, the Court will hold the CMC 2 immediately following the ENE with counsel only in the main session. 3 6. New Parties Must be Notified by Plaintiff or Plaintiff's Counsel: 4 || Plaintiff's counsel must give notice of the ENE to any Defendants who have been served 5 who have not yet filed responsive pleadings as of the date of this Order. If any 6 || Defendants have not yet been served, Plaintiff's counsel must serve them with a copy of 7 Order along with the summons and complaint. 8 7. The failure of any party to follow these mandatory procedures shall result 9 the imposition of sanctions. 10 8. Questions regarding this case or these mandatory guidelines may be directed 11 Judge Goddard’s law clerks at (619) 557-6162. Lodged statements should be emailed to 12 || efile_goddard @casd.uscourts.gov. 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 ||Dated: April 29, 2025 15 16 _ AnwioenH. Honorable Allison H. Goddard 17 United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28