Medical Extrusion Technologies, Inc. v. Apollo Medical Extrusion Technologies, Inc.

Opinion

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MEDICAL EXTRUSION TECHNOLOGIES, Case No.: 17cv2150-AJB (MSB) INC., 12 ORDER SETTING IN-PERSON Plaintiff, 13 SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE v. 14 APOLLO MEDICAL EXTRUSION 15 TECHNOLOGIES, INC., 16 Defendant. 17 18 19 The Court held a settlement conference on August 29, 2019. Settlement 20 negotiations are ongoing. As discussed with the parties at the conference, the Court 21 SETS a further in-person settlement conference on September 18, 2019, at 3:00 p.m., in 22 the chambers of Magistrate Judge Michael S. Berg located at 221 West Broadway, 23 Second Floor (Chambers 2C), San Diego, CA 92101. All discussions at the Settlement 24 Conference will be informal, off the record, privileged, and confidential. 25 a. Personal Appearance of Parties Required: All named parties, party 26 representatives, including claims adjusters for insured defendants, as well as the 27 principal attorney(s) responsible for the litigation, must be present in person and legally 1 || clients (whether or not counsel has been given settlement authority) will be cause for 2 ||immediate imposition of sanctions and may also result in the immediate termination of 3 conference. 4 b. Full Settlement Authority Required: A party or party representative with 5 || full settlement authority’ must be present at the conference. Retained outside 6 || corporate counsel shall not appear on behalf of a corporation as the party 7 representative who has the authority to negotiate and enter into a settlement. 8 C. Requests to Continue a Settlement Conference: Any request to continue 9 || the Mandatory Settlement Conference, or request for relief from any of the provisions 10 || or requirements of this Order, must be sought by a written application. Absent good 11 || cause, requests for continuances will not be considered unless submitted in writing no 12 || fewer than seven (7) calendar days prior to the scheduled conference. 13 If the case is settled in its entirety before the scheduled date of the conference, 14 || counsel and any unrepresented parties must still appear in person, unless a written 15 || joint notice confirming the complete settlement of the case is filed no fewer than 16 || twenty-four (24) hours before the scheduled conference. 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 ||Dated: August 29, 2019 . —> tH 19 □ Honorable Michael S. Berg United States Magistrate Judge 21 22 23 24 “Full settlement authority” means that the individuals at the settlement conference must be authorized 25 || to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). The person 26 || needs 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, 485-86 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose of requiring a person with 27 || unlimited settlement authority to attend the conference contemplates that the person’s view of the case 38 may be altered during the face to face conference. Id. at 486. A limited or a sum certain of authority is not adequate. See Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595-97 (8th Cir. 2001).