ORDER DENYING MOTION TO CONTINUE CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE [DOCKET NO. 45]; ORDER GRANTING PERMISSION TO APPEAR BY TELEPHONE AT CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

DONNA M. RYU, Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff's counsel requests a continuance of the November 12, 2014 case management conference because Plaintiff's counsel must appear on that same at a case management conference before another judge in San Francisco. [Docket No. 45.] Defendant has opposed the request in light of its consequences on the case schedule. [Docket No. 46.]

The court notes that the conference in San Francisco will occur at 2 p.m., after the 1:30 p.m. time scheduled for the conference in this matter. The court therefore denies Plaintiff's request to continue the case management conference, but grants Plaintiff's counsel permission to appear via CourtCall in this matter, which shall be called first on the court's calendar. The joint case management conference statement remains due on November 5, 2014.

Parties appearing by telephone must follow the protocol set forth in the attached Notice re Telephonic Appearance Procedures for Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu. Failure to comply with the procedures ordered herein may result in sanctions.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

NOTICE RE TELEPHONIC APPEARANCE PROCEDURES FOR MAGISTRATE JUDGE DONNA M. RYU EFFECTIVE APRIL 11, 2012

I. POLICY GOVERNING TELEPHONIC APPEARANCES

A party representative (or a party if in pro se) generally must appear in person for a hearing or case management conference. Permission to attend by telephone may be granted, in the Court's discretion, upon written request made at least one week in advance of the hearing if the Court determines that good cause exists to excuse personal attendance, and that personal attendance is not needed in order to have an effective hearing or conference. The facts establishing good cause must be set forth in the request. All telephonic appearances must be made through CourtCall, an independent conference call company, pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section II. If an individual schedules a telephonic appearance and then fails to respond to the call of a matter on calendar, the Court may pass the matter or may treat the failure to respond as a failure to appear. Scheduling simultaneous telephonic appearances in multiple courts does not excuse a failure to appear. Individuals making use of the conference call service are cautioned that they do so at their own risk. Hearings generally will not be rescheduled due to missed connections.

II. SCHEDULING A TELEPHONIC APPEARANCE.

If the Court grants a party's request for telephonic appearance, the party shall arrange for the appearance by calling CourtCall at (866) 582-6878 not later than 3:00 p.m. the court day prior to the hearing date.

III. PROCEDURE FOR TELEPHONIC APPEARANCE.

Court Call will provide counsel with written confirmation of a telephonic appearance, and give counsel a number to call to make the telephonic appearance. It is counsel's responsibility to dial into the call not later than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled hearing.

CourtCall does not place a call to counsel.

The initial charge per participant for a CourtCall appearance is $30.00 for the first 45 minutes you are connected. For each additional 15 minute increment the charge is $7.00. If you do not timely call and connect with the Court Call operator, you will be billed for the call and the hearing may proceed in your absence.

Telephonic appearances are connected directly with the courtroom's public address system and electronic recording equipment so that a normal record is produced. To ensure the quality of the record, the use of car phones, cellular phones, speakerphones, public telephone booths, or phones in other public places is prohibited except in the most extreme emergencies. Participants should be able to hear all parties without difficulty or echo.

At the time of your hearing, you may initially be in the listening mode in which case you will be able to hear the case before yours just as if you were in the courtroom. After your call is connected to the courtroom, the Judge will call the case, request appearances, and direct the manner in which the hearing proceeds. Each time you speak, you should identify yourself for the record. The court's teleconferencing system allows more than one speaker to be heard, so the Judge can interrupt a speaker to ask a question or redirect the discussion. When the Judge informs the participants that the hearing is completed, you may disconnect and the next case will be called.

Telephonic appearances by multiple participants are only possible when there is compliance with every procedural requirement. Sanctions may be imposed when there is any deviation from the required procedures or the Court determines that a person's conduct makes telephonic appearances inappropriate. Sanctions may include dropping a matter from calendar, continuing the hearing, proceeding in the absence of an unavailable participant, a monetary sanction, and/or a permanent prohibition against a person appearing telephonically.