United States v. Usdc - Nmi

I. Background

The current dispute arises in the context of a multi-million dollar tax refund case pending in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. Following disallowance by the Internal Revenue Service of certain deductions, real party in interest John K. Baldwin paid a federal income tax deficiency and then filed a lawsuit seeking to recover in excess of $5 million in taxes, penalties, and interest.

The district court has a local rule that provides that “[t]he court will routinely set a date for a settlement conference” in civil cases. D. N. Mar. I. Civ. R. 16.2CJ(e)(5). A subpart of that rule is explicit in mandating attendance at the conference by each party through a representative with “full authority” to settle the litigation: “Each party shall be required to attend the settlement conference, either personally or through a repre- sentative with full authority to participate in settlement nego- tiations and to effect a complete compromise of the case.” D. N. Mar. I. Civ. R. 16.2CJ(e)(5)(a).

The district court issued an order on September 2, 2011, scheduling a settlement conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 1 Other districts within this circuit have…