Johnson v. Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc. et al
Filing
47
ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 6/16/11 DENYING 45 Motion to Excuse Defendant's Personal Appearance at the Settlement Conference. Counsel for defendants shall appear at the settlement conference on June 21, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., in Courtroom 25. As provided in Local Rule 270(f)(1), defendants counsel shall be accompanied in person by a person capable of disposition, or shall be fully authorized to settle the matter at the settlement conference on any terms. (Meuleman, A)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SCOTT N. JOHNSON,
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Plaintiff,
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No. 2:07-cv-02514 KJM EFB
v.
CARL KARCHER ENTERPRISES,
INC. Individually and dba CARL’S
JR. #231, et al.,
Defendants.
ORDER
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Following a status conference in this matter conducted on April 27, 2011, a
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settlement conference was ordered to be held before the undersigned on June 21, 2011, at 9:00
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a.m., in Courtroom 25. (See Order, May 2, 2011, at 1, Dkt. No. 42.) The parties lodged non-
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confidential settlement conference memoranda with the undersigned and represented that they
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have exchanged the same.
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Presently before the undersigned is defendants’ application to be excused from
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personal appearance at the settlement conference on the grounds that in light of representations in
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the settlement memoranda regarding plaintiff’s initial settlement demand: (1) “Defendants are
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not inclined to settle with Plaintiff at this point in time”; (2) the “costs for preparing for, traveling
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to, and attending the scheduling conference in person is simply more than Defendants would
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offer Plaintiff to settle this matter”; and (3) as a result, “a personal appearance by Defendants
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would be counterproductive to any meaningful settlement discussion.” (See Application at 2,
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Dkt. No. 45.)
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The undersigned denies defendants’ application for relief from personal
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appearance at the scheduling conference. Defendants represented in the Joint Status Report that
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they were “open to an early settlement conference,” and it appears from the court’s docket that
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defendants confirmed this representation at the status conference. (Joint Status Report at 4, Dkt.
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No. 39; Minutes, Apr. 27, 2011, Dkt. No. 41 (“The parties confirm they are open to
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settlement.”).) If defendants did not truly wish to engage in early settlement negotiations, their
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counsel should not have represented as much to the court.
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For the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
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1.
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Defendants application to be excused from personal appearance at the
settlement conference (Dkt. No. 45) is denied.
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2.
Counsel for defendants shall appear at the settlement conference on
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June 21, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., in Courtroom 25. As provided in Local Rule 270(f)(1), defendants’
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“counsel shall be accompanied in person by a person capable of disposition, or shall be fully
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authorized to settle the matter at the settlement conference on any terms.”
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: June 16, 2011
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_____________________________________
KENDALL J. NEWMAN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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