Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 ALEXANDRA DIBACCO, Case No.: 3:26-cv-02806-AGS-AHG 13 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE EARLY 14 v. NEUTRAL EVALUATION 15 F5, INC.; NGINX SOFTWARE, INC.; CONFERENCE AND CASE DOES 1 THROUGH 20, MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 16 Defendants. 17 [ECF No. 8] 18 19 20 Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Continue the Early Neutral 21 Evaluation (“ENE”) and Case Management Conference (“CMC”). ECF No. 8. The Court 22 finds good cause to continue the conferences based on counsel’s preexisting scheduling 23 conflict. Accordingly, the Joint Motion to Continue the ENE and CMC is GRANTED. 24 The ENE and CMC currently set for July 1, 2026 are RESET to 25 July 28, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. via videoconference before Magistrate Judge Allison H. 26 Goddard. In accordance with the Local Rules, the Court requires attendance of all parties, 27 party representatives, including claims adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary 28 attorney(s) responsible for the litigation via videoconference. CivLR 16.1(c)(1). 1 The Court issues the following Mandatory Procedures to be followed in 2 preparation for the ENE: 3 1. Purpose of the Conference: The purpose of the ENE is to permit an informal 4 discussion between the attorneys and the settlement judge of every aspect of the lawsuit in 5 an effort to achieve an early resolution of the case. All conference discussions will be 6 informal, off the record, and confidential. 7 2. Full Settlement Authority Required: A party or party representative with 8 full and complete authority to enter into a binding settlement must be present via 9 videoconference. Full authority to settle means that a person must be authorized to fully 10 explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to 11 the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 12 1989). The person needs to have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the 13 settlement position of a party. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485–86 (D. 14 Ariz. 2003). Limited or sum certain authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, 15 Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595–97 (8th Cir. 2001). A person who needs to call another person 16 who is not present on the videoconference before agreeing to any settlement does not 17 have full authority. 18 3. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than July 21, 2026, the 19 parties shall submit confidential statements of five (5) pages or less directly to the chambers 20 of Magistrate Judge Goddard outlining the nature of the case, the claims, and the defenses. 21 These statements shall not be filed or served on opposing counsel. They shall be lodged 22 via email at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov. The ENE statement is limited to five (5) 23 pages or less. There is not a page limit on exhibits. Parties should attach any 24 documents that they believe will be important for settlement discussion as exhibits to 25 the ENE statement. Each party’s ENE statement must outline: 26 A. the nature of the case and the claims, 27 B. position on liability or defense, 28 1 C. position regarding settlement of the case with a specific 2 demand/offer for settlement,2 and 3 D. any previous settlement negotiations or mediation efforts. 4 The Court may use GenAI tools to review the information that the parties submit. Either 5 party may object to the Court’s use of such tools by advising the Court’s law clerk of that 6 objection when they submit the information. The Court will respect that objection without 7 any further explanation, and the Court’s law clerk will only communicate to Judge Goddard 8 that there was an objection, not which party made the objection. 9 4. Case Management Conference: In the event the case does not settle at the 10 ENE, the Court will immediately thereafter hold a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) 11 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b). Appearance of the parties at the CMC is not required. 12 The Court orders the following to occur before the CMC: 13 A. The parties must meet and confer pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) no 14 later than June 30, 2026. 15 B. The parties must file a Joint Case Management Statement by 16 July 16, 2026. The Joint Case Management Statement must address 17 all points in the “Joint Case Management Statement Requirements for 18 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard,” which can be found on the 19 court website at: 20 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Join 21 t%20Case%20Management%20Statement%20Rules.pdf. 22 C. Initial disclosures pursuant to Rule 26(a)(1)(A-D) must occur by 14 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 days after meet and confer July 14, 2026. 2 5. Appearances via Videoconference Required: All named parties, party 3 representatives, including claims adjusters for insured defendants, as well as principal 4 attorney(s) responsible for the litigation must attend the ENE via videoconference. All who 5 attend the ENE must be legally and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case. 6 Counsel appearing without their clients (whether or not counsel has been given settlement 7 authority) will be subject to immediate imposition of sanctions. To facilitate the 8 videoconference ENE, the Court hereby orders as follows: 9 A. The Court will use its official Zoom video conferencing account to hold 10 the ENE. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom: Zoom is available on 11 computers through a download on the Zoom website 12 (https://zoom.us/meetings) or on mobile devices through the 13 installation of a free app.3 Joining a Zoom conference does not require 14 creating a Zoom account, but it does require downloading the .exe file 15 (if using a computer) or the app (if using a mobile device). Participants 16 are encouraged to create an account, install Zoom and familiarize 17 themselves with Zoom in advance of the ENE.4 There is a cost-free 18 option for creating a Zoom account. 19 B. Prior to the start of the ENE, the Court will email each participant an 20 invitation to join a Zoom video conference. Again, if possible, 21 participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the 22 video conference, as mobile devices often offer inferior performance. 23 24 25 3 If possible, participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the video conference, rather than mobile devices. 26 27 4 For help getting started with Zoom, visit: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en- us/categories/200101697-Getting-Started 28 1 Participants shall join the video conference by following the ZoomGov 2 Meeting hyperlink in the invitation. Participants who do not have 3 Zoom already installed on their device when they click on the 4 ZoomGov Meeting hyperlink will be prompted to download and 5 install Zoom before proceeding. Zoom may then prompt participants 6 to enter the password included in the invitation. 7 C. Each participant should plan to join the Zoom video conference at least 8 five minutes before the start of the ENE to ensure that the conference 9 begins promptly at 2:00 p.m. 10 D. Zoom’s functionalities will allow the Court to conduct the ENE as it 11 ordinarily would conduct an in-person one. The Court will divide 12 participants into separate, confidential sessions, which Zoom calls 13 Breakout Rooms.5 In a Breakout Room, the Court will be able to 14 communicate with participants from a single party in confidence. 15 Breakout Rooms will also allow parties and counsel to communicate 16 confidentially without the Court. 17 E. No later than July 21, 2026, counsel for each party shall send an e-mail 18 to the Court at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov containing the 19 following: 20 i. The name and title of each participant, including all parties 21 and party representatives with full settlement authority, claims 22 adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) 23 responsible for the litigation; 24 ii. An e-mail address for each participant to receive the Zoom 25 videoconference invitation; 26 27 5 For more information on what to expect when participating in a Zoom Breakout Room, 28 1 iii. A telephone number where each participant may be reached; 2 and 3 iv. A cell phone number for that party’s preferred point of 4 contact (and the name of the individual whose cell phone it is) 5 for the Court to use during the ENE to alert counsel via text 6 message that the Court will soon return to that party’s Breakout 7 Room, to avoid any unexpected interruptions of confidential 8 discussions. 9 F. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during 10 the ENE and be prepared to devote their full attention to the ENE as if 11 they were attending in person, i.e., cannot be driving or in a car while 12 speaking to the Court. Because Zoom may quickly deplete the battery 13 of a participant’s device, each participant should ensure that their 14 device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available during 15 the videoconference. 16 G. Counsel are advised that although the ENE will take place on Zoom, all 17 participants shall appear and conduct themselves as if it is proceeding 18 in a courtroom, i.e., all participants must dress in appropriate courtroom 19 attire. 20 H. If the case does not settle during the ENE, the Court will hold the CMC 21 immediately following the ENE with counsel only in the main session. 22 6. New Parties Must be Notified by Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s Counsel: 23 Plaintiff’s counsel must give notice of the ENE to any Defendants who have been served 24 but who have not yet filed responsive pleadings as of the date of this Order. If any 25 Defendants have not yet been served, Plaintiff’s counsel must serve them with a copy of 26 this Order along with the summons and complaint. 27 7. The failure of any party to follow these mandatory procedures shall result 28 in the imposition of sanctions. l 8. Questions regarding this case or these mandatory guidelines may be directed 2 || to Judge Goddard’s law clerks at (619) 557-6162. Lodged statements should be emailed to 3 || efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov. 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 Dated: June 9, 2026 6 Woe. Kotor Honorable Allison H. Goddard 8 United States Magistrate Judge 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28