UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
JOHN SMITH )
Plaintiff, )
)
)
v. ) CIVIL ACTION
)
SALLY SMITH )
Defendant. )
)
)
NOTICE OF AND ORDER WITH RESPECT TO MEDIATION
November 28, 2016
CABELL, M.J.
The parties are hereby notified that in accordance with the Order of Reference referring this case
to Alternative Dispute Resolution the court has scheduled a mediation conference at 10:00 am on
Thursday, January 19, 2017 in Courtroom 23 - Boston. All parties (or, if applicable, representatives
thereof) and counsel are required to attend and must have full settlement authority - leave of court is
required for any exceptions. It shall be understood that all parties and counsel will participate in good
faith and with the objective of settling the matter on mutually acceptable terms. It shall be further
understood that all parties, counsel, and other persons who participate will keep confidential all
communications exchanged during the conference.
By no later than 5 business days before the mediation, each party shall provide the court a
confidential settlement memorandum (marked “Confidential – Not for Docketing”) of no more than
five pages addressing with candor, in enumerated sections, the following points:
1. A brief analysis of the key issues involved in the litigation, including a specific
breakdown of the claimed damages.
2. A description of the strongest and weakest legal and factual points in the party’s case and
the opponent’s case.
3. The status of settlement negotiations, including the last settlement proposal made by each
side. In this regard, counsel are directed to confer with their clients in advance of the
mediation conference to explore the party’s settlement position, and the parties are
encouraged to exchange settlement proposals prior to the conference.
4. The settlement proposal that the party believes would be fair.
5. The settlement proposal that the party would be willing to make in order to conclude the
matter at this time.
6. A list of the expected attendees at the mediation along with a brief explanation of their
role or title.
Each memorandum shall be held in confidence by the court and shall not be filed on CM/ECF.
The memoranda should be sent to Noreen Russo, Deputy Clerk, Clerk’s Office, United States District
Court, 1 Courthouse Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, or preferably, e-mailed to
[email protected].
If you believe the case is not ripe for mediation1 you must notify opposing counsel and the Court
as soon as possible. The parties are asked to accommodate the court’s scheduled mediation date. If the
date poses a serious conflict, please do NOT contact the Courtroom Deputy directly regarding mediation
scheduling; instead, the parties are to confer and file on CM/ECF an assented-to motion to continue the
mediation, including therein several proposed dates for which all counsel and principals are available.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
/s/ Donald L. Cabell
DONALD L. CABELL
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
1
Examples of reasons why a case might not be ripe for mediation are (1) crucial discovery has not yet
been done or (2) one or more of the parties is unwilling to settle the case on any terms or (3) one or more of the
parties is unwilling to settle the case on any terms other than those which the other party or other parties will find
impossible to accept.
