1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOHN CHILES and SARA FRANCES Case No.: 3:23-cv-01802-DDL

HEIDT,

12

ORDER GRANTING IN PART

Plaintiffs, 13 JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE v. MANDATORY SETTLEMENT 14 CONFERENCE

STATE FARM GENERAL INSURANCE

15 COMPANY and DOES 1 through 10, [Doc. No. 24] 16 inclusive,

17 Defendants. 18

19 Before the Court is the Parties’ Joint Stipulated Motion to Continue Mandatory 20 Settlement Conference (the “Joint Motion”). Doc. No. 24. The parties request to continue 21 the Mandatory Settlement Conference (“MSC”) from April 11, 2024 to October 30, 2024 22 so it can occur on “a date after the hearing on dispositive motions set for October 23, 2024 23 at 2:00 p.m.[.]” Id. at 2. Given the parties’ new fact and expert discovery cutoffs, the Court 24 agrees that continuing the MSC is prudent. See Doc. No. 22. However, the parties do not 25 explain why an approximately six-month continuance until after the hearing on dispositive 26 motions is necessary. Therefore, based on a review of the Joint Motion and the record, and 27 good cause appearing, the Joint Motion is GRANTED IN PART. 28 1 The Court ORDERS the following: 2 1. A Mandatory Settlement Conference (“MSC”) shall be conducted by Zoom 3 video conferencing on June 11, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Valerie E. 4 Torres.1 5 2. The following are mandatory procedures to be followed in preparation for 6 the MSC. Absent express permission from this Court, counsel must timely comply with 7 the dates and deadlines herein. Questions regarding the MSC or the mandatory guidelines 8 set forth herein may be directed to Judge Torres’ Chambers at (619) 557-6384. 9 3. Full Settlement Authority Required. Pursuant to Local Rule 16.1.c.1, all 10 parties, party representatives, including claims adjusters for insured parties, and the 11 principal attorney(s) responsible for the litigation must participate in the MSC.2 This 12 appearance must be made with full and complete authority to negotiate and enter into a 13 binding settlement.3 Counsel for a government entity is excused from this requirement if 14 the government attorney who participates in the MSC (i) has primary responsibility for 15 16 17 18 1 Counsel may request the MSC be converted to an in-person appearance through a joint 19 call or email to Judge Torres’ Chambers (efile_torres@casd.uscourts.gov). Counsel must meet and confer prior to making such a request. 20 2 The attendance requirement includes parties that are indemnified by others. Any 21 deviation from this Order requires prior Court approval. 22 3 Full authority to settle means that the individuals at the MSC are authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable 23 to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th 24 Cir. 1989). Party participants need 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, 25 485-486 (D. Ariz. 2003). One of the purposes of requiring a person with complete 26 settlement authority to attend the conference is that the person’s view of the case may be altered during the face-to-face conference. Id. at 486. Limited or sum certain 27 authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595-597 (8th 28 Cir. 2001). 1 ||handling the case, and (11) may negotiate settlement offers that the attorney is willing to 2 ||recommend to the government official having ultimate settlement authority. 3 4. Confidential Settlement Brief. No later than seven (7) calendar days before 4 ||the MSC, each party must lodge a Confidential Settlement Brief by email to 5 || efile_torres@casd.uscourts.gov. The Confidential Settlement Brief should not exceed ten 6 ||(10) pages, excluding exhibits, and must be formatted according to the requirements of 7 Local Rule 5.1(a). Parties attaching exhibits must attach only the relevant pages of multi- 8 || page exhibits and must highlight the relevant portions. Neither party is required to resubmit 9 ||a Confidential Settlement Brief if previously lodged with the Court. However, no later than 10 || 7 calendar days before the MSC, both parties may submit a new and updated Confidential 11 || Settlement Brief as appropriate. 12 5. Contents of Settlement Brief. All Confidential Settlement Briefs shall 13 |}include the content specified in the Court’s Chambers Rules, available at 14 || https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/torres/docs/Civil%20Chambers%20Rules.pdf. 15 6. Procedure for Zoom Videoconference. Two (2) business days prior to the 16 ||MSC, the Court will email counsel of record an invitation with the Zoom meeting 17 ||information. Participants can join the Zoom video conference by following the ZoomGov 18 || Meeting hyperlink or using the meeting ID and password provided. Each participant should 19 to join the Zoom video conference at least five (5) minutes before the start of the 20 ||MSC. Counsel is responsible for ensuring their clients can participate in the MSC. All 21 || participants must display the same level of professionalism and attention during the MSC 22 if they were attending in person (e.g., not be driving while speaking to the Court, or 23 || otherwise distracted). 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 Dated: April 5, 2024 - 26 (recs 27 Honorable Valerie E. Torres 38 United States Magistrate Judge