IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
, )
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Plaintiff, )
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v. ) Case No.
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, )
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Defendant. )
SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE ORDER
The Court sets a settlement conference on __________________, at
________ a.m./p.m. All attorneys and client representatives should report to
the United States Courthouse, 200 N.W. 4th Street, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, Room 1301. Strict compliance with LCvR16.2 is required.
The settlement conference statement and cover sheet are to be submitted to
the undersigned via email to
[email protected] no later
than 5:00 p.m., _______________. The cover sheet should include all
parties who will be in attendance along with each party’s email
address if not previously provided. In addition, the Court orders:
1. FULL SETTLEMENT AUTHORITY REQUIRED: As stated in
LCvR16.2(b), each party must attend with “full settlement authority,”
defined as follows:
For a plaintiff, such representative must have final settlement authority,
in the representative’s discretion, to authorize dismissal of the case with
prejudice or to accept a settlement amount down to the defendant’s last
offer.
Except as otherwise provided in LCvR16.2(b)(2), the client
representative for any entity named as the defendant must have
discretion to commit the entity to pay an amount up to the plaintiff’s
prayer or up to the plaintiff’s last demand, whichever is lower.
The purpose of the requirement for full authority is to have
representatives present who can settle the case during the course of the
conference without consulting a superior.
2. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE STATEMENTS:
A. Required Statements
The settlement conference statements, required under
LCvR16.2(d), are due no later than _______________, at 5:00 p.m.
These statements must be served in compliance with the local civil
rule.
B. Optional Statements
In addition, each party has the option of submitting to the
undersigned a confidential memorandum. This statement is not
required. But if submitted, the statement is due _______________,
at 5:00 p.m.
In the confidential memorandum, the party may include any
information that would be helpful for me to know in advance.
3. PRE-CONFERENCE MEETING: To aid in my preparation for the
settlement conference, I will extend an opportunity to meet privately
with the attorneys for both parties. This meeting is optional for the
attorneys. If the attorneys do exercise this option to meet in advance
with me, I will be primarily interested in counsel’s perception of the
negotiations, impediments to the settlement, and objectives for the
settlement conference. If counsel wishes to schedule such a pre-
conference meeting, he/she should contact Ms. Lesa Boles at the
telephone number listed below.
4. EXHAUSTION OF SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS: The parties
may feel that they want to save room to negotiate until the judicial
settlement conference. But that is not the function of the judicial
settlement conference. Until the parties have exhausted negotiations on
their own, neither the attorneys nor the settlement judge can
meaningfully assess the impediments to settlement or determine
whether a facilitative or evaluative process should be employed. Thus,
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mere exchange of offers before the settlement conference is not enough.
Instead, the parties should exhaust settlement negotiations prior to the
proceeding. The failure to comply may result in cancellation or
rescheduling of the proceeding.
5. RELIEF FROM THE REQUIREMENTS IN LCvR16.2 OR THIS
ORDER: LCvR16.2 states that requests for relief from this rule shall be
directed to the settlement judge. For guidance on how to otherwise seek
relief from LCvR16.2 or this order, one may contact the courtroom
deputy for the undersigned, Ms. Lesa Boles (405-609-5044).
SO ORDERED this _____ day of ______________, 20__.
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