1|| RAMZY P. LADAH, ESQ. Nevada Bar No. 11405 || DONALD P. PARADISO, ESQ. Nevada Bar No. 12845 LADAH LAW FIRM 517S. Third Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 litigation @ ladahlaw.com 5 || T: 702.252.0055 F: 702.248.0055 6 || Attorney for Plaintiffs 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 DISTRICT OF NEVADA BETH A. SOTOLONGO, CASE NO.: 2:21-cv-01825-BNW 10 > Plaintiff, > 11 v. 12 my B UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; DOES I STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR through XX, inclusive and ROE BUSINESS EXCEPTION FROM ATTENDANCE ENTITIES I through XX, inclusive, REQUIREMENTS FOR SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 15 Defendants. 16

18 COMES NOW the Plaintiff, BETH A. SOTOLONGO by and through her attorne || RAMZY P. LADAH, ESQ., and DONALD P. PARADISO, ESQ., of the LADAH LAW FIRM a 20 || Defendants UNITED STATES OF AMERICA by and through their attorney, Assistant Uni 21 || States Attorney, PATRICK A. ROSE, ESQ., and stipulate and respectfully request from the Co 22 || an order excepting Defendant United States from the requirements, as applicable, that the settlem 23 || conference be attended by a "representative with settlement authority up to the full amount of | 24 || claim.” Order at 2:1—2, ECF No. 23. In lieu thereof, Defendant United States would appear at | 25 || settlement conference via the Zoom-based attendance and participation by undersigned □□□□□ 26 || counsel, AUSA Patrick Rose, with a representative of the Department of Veterans Affairs availal 27 || by telephone. The parties have consulted and are in agreement with the exception requested herei 28

1 I. INTRODUCTION 2 This case arises from an October 7, 2019, motor vehicle collision between Plaintiff, < □□ Adrian D. Burnett, an employee of the Department of Veteran Affairs. 4 After exhausting administrative remedies, Plaintiff commenced this lawsuit pursuant to | 5|| Federal Tort Claims Act,

(b)(1), 1402(b), 2401(b), 2402, 2671-2680 (“FTCA || Following discovery, this case has been set for a March 22, 2023, settlement conference via Zor video conference. Order at 1:10—-11, ECF No. 23. 8 II. POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 9 The federal government is unlike other litigants in terms of geographic breadth, nature || issues, and number of cases. See United States v. Mendoza,

(1984). T 11 || authority to settle most civil cases against the government rests with varying management person: || within the local United States Attorney’s Office or at the Department of Justice (“DO 13 || headquarters, depending on the dollar amount and the concurrence of the client agency. See 14]| C.F.R. § 0.168(a); 28 C.F.R. Part 0, Subpart Y, Appendix. There is not an insurance carrier for t 15 || matter. 16 As the advisory committee recognized, “[p]articularly in litigation in which governmen 17 || agencies . . . are involved, there may be no one with on-the-spot settlement authority, and the m 18 || that should be expected is access to a person who would have a major role in submitting 19 || recommendation to the body or board with ultimate decision-making responsibility.” Fed. R. Civ. 20 || 16 advisory committee’s note (1993 amendment, subdivision (c)). Additionally, a district court « 21 || consider alternative methods of participation, such as via telephone. See United States v. U.S. D 22 || Court,

(9th Cir. 2012). 23 The United States Attorney’s Office understands the importance of ENEs, settlem 24 || conferences, and other alternate dispute resolution techniques in resolving civil cases. This off 25 || has participated in many of them, in good faith, and consistent with the authority set forth in | 26 || applicable regulations. 27 Recommendations (through the respective DOJ and client agency chains of commat 28 || regarding any particular settlement proposal in this case will originate with the undersigned AU; Page 2 of 3

1|| and an assigned VA paralegal. Based on the reasons and circumstances above, the part 2|| respectfully request an exception from the Order’s requirements of attendance by a representat with settlement authority up to the full amount of the claim. In lieu of such requirements, | undersigned AUSA would attend and participate, while a representative of the Department Veterans Affairs would be available via telephone. 6 Il. CONCLUSION 7 Based on the reasons and circumstances above, the parties respectfully requests that | || Court approve this stipulation so as to allow AUSA Rose to attend and participate in the settlem 9 || conference, with a representative of the Department of Veterans Affairs available by telephone, 10 || lieu of the attendance requirements otherwise set forth in the Order, ECF No. 23.

11 || DATED this 25" day of January, 2023. DATED this 25" day of January, 2023. LADAH LAW FIRM B JASON M. FRIERSON _ UNITED STATES ATTORNEY 14 || /s/ Ramzy P. Ladah /s/ Patrick A. Rose 15 ||] RAMZY P. LADAH, ESQ. Nevada Bar No. 11405 PATRICK A. ROSE, ESQ. 16 || DONALD P. PARADISO, ESQ. Assistant United States Attorney 7 Nevada Bar No. 12845 Nevada Bar No. 5109 517S. Third Street 501 Las Vegas Boulevard, South, Suite 1100 18 || Las Vegas, NV 89101 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 Attorneys for Plaintiff Attorneys for Defendant 19 20 21 IT IS SO ORDERED: 22 rats 23 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 DATED: January 26, 2023 25 26 27 28 Page 3 of 3