ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND SETTING AND CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

[Dkt. No. 5]

NITA L. STORMES, Magistrate Judge.

For good cause shown, the court GRANTS the joint motion, VACATES the April 19, 2017 Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) and RESETS it for May 15, 2017 at 9:30 a.m. in the Chambers of Magistrate Judge Nita L. Stormes, Carter-Keep United States Courthouse, 333 West Broadway, Suite 1210, San Diego, California 92101. If the case does not settle at the ENE, the Court will hold a Case Management Conference (CMC) immediately following the ENE on May 15, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.

The following are mandatory guidelines for preparing for the conference.

1. Purpose of Conference: The purpose of the ENE is to permit an informal discussion between the attorneys, parties, and the settlement judge of every aspect of the lawsuit in an effort to achieve an early resolution of the case. All conference discussions will be informal, off the record, privileged and confidential. Counsel for any non-English speaking parties is responsible for arranging for the appearance of an interpreter at the conference.

2. Personal Appearance of Parties Is Required: All parties, adjusters for insured defendants, and other representatives of a party having full and complete authority to enter into a binding settlement, and the principal attorneys responsible for the litigation, must be present in person and legally and factually prepared to discuss settlement of the case. Full authority to settle means that the individuals at the ENE be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). The person 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, 485-486 (D. Ariz. 2003). One of the purposes of requiring a person with unlimited settlement authority to attend the conference is that the person's view of the case may be altered during the face-to-face conference. Pitman, 216 F.R.D. at 486. Limited or sum certain authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan's Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595-597 (8th Cir. 2001). Counsel appearing without their clients (whether or not counsel has been given settlement authority) will be cause for immediate imposition of sanctions and will also result in the immediate termination of the conference.

3. Full Settlement Authority Required: In addition to counsel who will try the case, a party or party representative with full settlement authority must be present for the conference. In the case of a corporate entity, an authorized representative of the corporation who is not retained outside counsel must be present and must have discretionary authority to commit the company to pay an amount up to the amount of the plaintiff's prayer (excluding punitive damage prayers). The purpose of this requirement is to have representatives present who can settle the case during the course of the conference without consulting a superior. Counsel for a government entity may be excused from this requirement so long as the government attorney who attends the ENE conference (1) has primary responsibility for handling the case; and (2) may negotiate settlement offers which the attorney is willing to recommend to the government official having ultimate settlement authority.

4. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than three court days before the ENE, the parties shall submit confidential statements of five pages or less directly to the chambers of Magistrate Judge Stormes outlining the nature of the case, the claims, and the defenses. These statements shall not be filed or served on opposing counsel. They can be lodged via email at efile_stormes@casd.uscourts.gov. If exhibits are attached and the total submission amounts to more than 20 pages, a hard copy must be delivered directly to chambers.

5. New Parties Must Be Notified by Plaintiff's Counsel: Plaintiff's counsel shall serve a copy of this order on all parties responding to the complaint after the date of this notice.

6. Case Management Under the Amended Federal Rules: If the case does not settle at the ENE, the Court will immediately thereafter hold a CMC pursuant to Rule 16(b). The Court therefore ORDERS the following to occur before the ENE:

7. Requests to Continue an ENE Conference: Local Rule 16.1(c) requires that an ENE take place within 45 days of the filing of the first answer. Requests to continue ENEs are rarely granted. However, the Court will consider formal, written ex parte requests to continue an ENE conference when extraordinary circumstances exist that make a continuance appropriate. In and of itself, having to travel a long distance to appear in person is not "extraordinary." Absent extraordinary circumstances, requests for continuances will not be considered unless submitted in writing no less than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled conference.

Questions regarding this case or the mandatory guidelines set forth herein may be directed to the Magistrate Judge's law clerks at (619) 557-5391.

A Notice of Right to Consent to Trial Before a United States Magistrate Judge is also attached for your information.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO CONSENT TO TRIAL BEFORE A UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), you are notified that a U.S. Magistrate Judge of this district may, upon the consent of all parties, on form 1A available in the Clerk's office, conduct any or all proceedings, including a jury or non-jury trial, and order the entry of a final judgment. Counsel for the plaintiff is responsible to obtain the consent of all parties, if they want to consent.

Be aware that your decision to consent or not to consent is entirely voluntary. Only if all parties consent will the Judge or Magistrate Judge to whom the case has been assigned be informed of your decision.

Judgments of the U.S. Magistrate Judges are appealable to the U.S. Court of Appeals in accordance with this statute and the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

MODEL RULE 26(f) REPORT AND JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

[insert CMC Date and Time]

The parties must include the following information in their Rule 26(f) report and joint case management statement.1 Except in unusually complex cases the statement should not exceed 10 pages.

1. Jurisdiction and Service: The basis for the court's subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiff's claims and counterclaims, whether any issues exist regarding personal jurisdiction or venue, whether any parties remain to be served, and, if any parties remain to be served, a proposed deadline for service.

2. Facts: A brief chronology of the facts and a statement of the principal factual issues in dispute.

3. Legal Issues: A brief statement, without extended legal argument, of the disputed points of law, including reference to specific statutes and decisions.

4. Motions: All prior and pending motions, their current status, and any anticipated motions.

5. Amendment of Pleadings: The extent to which parties, claims, or defenses are expected to be added or dismissed and a proposed deadline for amending the pleadings.

6. Evidence Preservation: A brief report certifying that the parties have met and conferred pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(f) regarding reasonable and proportionate steps taken to preserve evidence relevant to the issues reasonably evident in this action.

7. Disclosures: Whether there has been full and timely compliance with the initial disclosure requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26, and a description of the disclosures made.

8. Discovery: Discovery taken to date, if any, the scope of anticipated discovery, any proposed limitations or modifications of the discovery rules, a brief report on whether the parties have agreed to a proposed Electronic Discovery Order, a proposed Protective Order to govern the exchange of confidential information, a proposed discovery plan pursuant to Rule 26(f), and any identified discovery disputes.

9. Class Actions: If a class action, a proposal for how and when the class will be certified.

10. Related Cases: Any related cases or proceedings pending before another judge of this court, or before another court or administrative body.

11. Relief: All relief sought through complaint or counterclaim, including the amount of any damages sought and a description of the bases on which damages are calculated. In addition, any party from whom damages are sought must describe the bases on which it contends damages should be calculated if liability is established.

12. Settlement and Mediation: Prospects for settlement, settlement efforts to date, and whether the parties have been to or are planning to go to private mediation.

13. Consent to Magistrate Judge for All Purposes: Whether all parties will consent to have a magistrate judge conduct all further proceedings including trial and entry of judgment. ____ yes ____ no If yes, please fill out the attached consent form and lodge it with the district judge.

14. Other References: Whether the case is suitable for reference to binding arbitration, a special master, or the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

15. Narrowing of Issues: Issues that can be narrowed by agreement or by motion, suggestions to expedite the presentation of evidence at trial (e.g. through summaries or stipulated facts), and any request to bifurcate issues, claims, or defenses.

16. Scheduling: Proposed dates for fact discovery cutoff, expert designations and exchange of expert reports, expert discovery cutoff, dispositive motions cutoff, Markman hearing (in patent cases), pretrial conference and trial.

17. Trial: Whether the case will be tried to a jury or to the court and the expected length of trial.

18. Disclosure of Non-party Interested Entities or Persons: Whether each party has filed the "Notice of Party with Financial Interest" required by Civil Local Rule 40.2. In addition, each party must restate in the case management statement the contents of its certification by identifying any persons, firms, partnerships, corporations (including parent corporations) or other entities known by the party to have either: (i) a financial interest in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to the proceeding; or (ii) any other kind of interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.

19. Professional Conduct: Whether all attorneys of record for the parties have reviewed Civil Local Rule 83.4 on Professionalism.

20. Miscellaneous: Such other matters as may facilitate the just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of this matter.

NOTICE, CONSENT, AND REFERENCE OF A CIVIL ACTION TO A MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Notice of a magistrate judge's availability. A United States magistrate judge of this court is available to conduct all proceedings in this civil action (including a jury or nonjury trial) and to order the entry of a final judgment. The judgment may then be appealed directly to the United States court of appeals like any other judgment of this court. A magistrate judge may exercise this authority only if all parties voluntarily consent.

You may consent to have your case referred to a magistrate judge, or you may withhold your consent without adverse substantive consequences. The name of any party withholding consent will not be revealed to any judge who may otherwise be involved with your case.

Consent to a magistrate judge's authority. The following parties [] Consent / [] Do Not Consent

to have a United States magistrate judge conduct all proceedings in this case including trial, the entry of final judgment, and all post-trial proceedings.

REFERENCE ORDER

IT IS ORDERED: This case is referred to United States Magistrate Judge Nita L. Stormes, to conduct all proceedings and order entry of a final judgment in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Fed. R. Civ. P. 73, and CivLR 73.1.