Novalk, LLC v. Evanston Insurance Company
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Lupe Rodriguez (author)
Analysis
The court was asked to manage the scheduling of a follow-up video settlement conference in a civil dispute. The court ordered that the conference be continued from November 8, 2023, to November 15, 2023, and set procedural requirements for participation.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Continuation of the follow-up video Settlement Conference“the Court CONTINUES the follow-up video Settlement Conference (“SC”) scheduled for November 8, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. until November 15, 2023, at 9:30 a.m.” | agree with court The court exercised its inherent and local rule authority to manage its own calendar and scheduling. The stated reason (a conflict on the Court’s calendar) is a valid administrative basis for a continuance. The decision is a routine exercise of judicial administration. |
The order itself: sound — The order is a standard scheduling order. It correctly cites authorities to define the requirements for settlement authority, which is a common practice in settlement conference orders to ensure the conference is productive. The reasoning is sufficient for the administrative action taken.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NOVALK, LLC, Case No.: 22cv1789-JO(LR)
12 Plaintiff, ORDER CONTINUING FOLLOW- 13 v. UP VIDEO SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 14 EVANSTON INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Due to a conflict on the Court’s calendar, the Court CONTINUES the follow-up 19 video Settlement Conference (“SC”) scheduled for November 8, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. until 20 November 15, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. All discussions at the SC will be informal, off the 21 record, privileged, and confidential. Counsel for any non-English speaking party is 22 responsible for arranging for the appearance of an interpreter at the conference. The 23 following rules and deadlines apply: 24 1. Appearance via Videoconference Required: All named parties (including 25 those who are indemnified by others), party representatives, including claims adjusters 26 for insured defendants, as well as the principal attorney(s) responsible for the litigation, 27 must participate in the video conference, and be legally and factually prepared to discuss 28 and resolve the case. Counsel appearing without their clients will be cause for immediate 1 imposition of sanctions and may also result in the immediate termination of the 2 conference. 3 2. Full Settlement Authority Required: A party or party representative with full 4 settlement authority1 must be present at the conference. A person who needs to call 5 another person who is not present on the videoconference before agreeing to any 6 settlement does not have full settlement authority. Retained outside corporate counsel 7 shall not appear on behalf of a corporation as the party representative who has the 8 authority to negotiate and enter into a settlement. 9 3. Before the SC, the Court will e-mail each SC participant an invitation to join a 10 Zoom video conference. 11 4. Each participant should plan to join the Zoom video conference at least ten 12 minutes before the start of the SC to ensure that the SC begins promptly at 9:30 a.m. 13 5. No later than November 8, 2023, counsel for each party shall send an e-mail to 14 the Court at efile_rodriguez@casd.uscourts.gov containing the following: 15 (1) The name and title of each participant, including all parties 16 and party representatives with full settlement authority, claims adjusters for insured 17 defendants, and the primary attorney(s) responsible for the litigation; 18 (2) An e-mail address for each participant to receive the Zoom 19 video conference invitation; and 20 (3) A telephone number where each participant may be reached 21 so that if technical difficulties arise, the Court will be able to proceed telephonically 22 instead of by video conference. (If counsel prefers all participants of their party on a 23 single conference call, counsel may provide a conference number and appropriate call-in 24 25 1 “Full settlement authority” means that a person is authorized to fully explore settlement options and to 26 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 needs to have “unfettered discretion and 27 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). Limited or a sum certain authority is not adequate. See Nick v. Morgan’s 28 1 ||information, including an access code, where all counsel and parties or party 2 representatives for that side may be reached as an alternative to providing individual 3 || telephone numbers for each participant.) 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 Dated: August 24, 2023 FY 7 Honorable Lupe Rodriguez, Jr. g United States Magistrate Judge 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28