Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_05-cv-02226/USCOURTS-cand-4_05-cv-02226-4/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 360
Nature of Suit: Other Personal Injury
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Fraud

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KATZOFF & 

RIGGS 

1500 PARK AVE., SUITE 300 

EMERYVILLE, CA 94608 

(510) 597-1990 

________________________________________________________________ 1 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND TO 

EXTEND PRE-TRIAL DEADLINES 

ROBERT R. RIGGS (Bar # 107684) 

SUNG E. SHIM (Bar # 184247) 

Katzoff & Riggs 

1500 Park Avenue, Suite 300 

Emeryville, CA 94608 

Tel. (510) 597-1990 

Attorneys for Defendant, CrossClaimant and Third Party Plaintiff 

MICHAEL FRIEL 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

RITA JETTE 

Plaintiff, 

 vs. 

GEORGE MCQUEEN; MICHAEL 

FRIEL, 

Defendants. 

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AND RELATED CROSS-CLAIM AND 

THIRD PARTY COMPLAINT. 

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Case No. C 05-02226 PJH 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO 

MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY 

NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND 

TO EXTEND PRE-TRIAL 

DEADLINES 

 Based on the Stipulation of the evaluator and the parties through their respective 

counsel and for good cause shown, the Court enters the following order: 

STIPULATION

 The parties to this action, through their respective counsel of record, hereby 

stipulate as follows: 

Case 4:05-cv-02226-PJH Document 57 Filed 04/13/06 Page 1 of 9
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KATZOFF & 

RIGGS 

1500 PARK AVE., SUITE 300 

EMERYVILLE, CA 94608 

(510) 597-1990 

________________________________________________________________ 2 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND TO 

EXTEND PRE-TRIAL DEADLINES 

 1. On June 1, 2005, Plaintiff Rita Jette filed her complaint against 

Defendants Michael Friel (“Friel”) and George McQueen (“McQueen”). On October 

12, 2005, Friel answered the complaint and filed a cross-claim for indemnity against 

McQueen. Thereafter, the parties entered into a stipulation to proceed to Early Neutral 

Evaluation (“ENE”), and at the initial case management conference (“CMC”) on 

December 8, 2006, the Court ordered the parties to ENE to be completed within 90 

days. On the same day, the Court also set a deadline for motions relating to pleadings 

(January 18, 2006) and another deadline for dispositive motions (May 10, 2006), with a 

caveat that the parties “may stipulate to changes to dates if other party is not agreeable 

to current dates set.” The deadlines to complete ENE and to file the dispositive motion 

shall be referred to herein as “Deadlines.” On December 27, 2005, the Court appointed 

Pamela Phillips to be the evaluator. 

 2. The motions relating to pleadings included: a) Plaintiff’s motion for leave 

to file first amended complaint; and b) Friel’s motion for leave to file a third party 

complaint against new parties, Seth L. Goldstein (“Goldstein”) and Henry Katz (“Katz”) 

(collectively “Third Party Defendants”). On March 1, 2006, the Court granted both 

motions. The third party complaint and the first amended complaint were filed on 

March 7, 2006. 

 3. The parties who have already appeared (Plaintiff, Friel and McQueen) 

held at least two pre-ENE telephonic conferences (sessions with Ms. Phillips on March 

2, 2006, and March 14, 2006) to discuss the nature of the ENE proceeding and to 

schedule the actual conference. At the time, it was impractical to schedule a specific 

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KATZOFF & 

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1500 PARK AVE., SUITE 300 

EMERYVILLE, CA 94608 

(510) 597-1990 

________________________________________________________________ 3 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND TO 

EXTEND PRE-TRIAL DEADLINES 

date because both Third Party Defendants, one of whom is in Rhode Island, did not 

appear yet and also because McQueen was incarcerated. The scheduling difficulty was 

compounded by the limited availability of the evaluator and Plaintiff. Specifically, due 

to Plaintiff’s age (80 years old) and her Rhode Island residence, the parties wanted to 

accommodate her so that she would have to make only one trip to California for both 

the ENE conference and her deposition. 

 4. Given the special circumstances of the case, the parties agree that there is 

good cause to extend the Deadlines and to convert the ENE conference to mediation 

where all of the parties could participate to try to reach a global settlement rather than 

proceeding to an ENE conference. 

 5. There is good cause for extending the Deadlines. All of the parties, 

including the Third Party Defendants who have not yet appeared, are now in agreement 

that a global mediation should be scheduled at a time when all parties can meaningfully 

participate. Because there is no video conferencing or telephone conferencing 

capability at the Lake County detention center, McQueen will be sending his wife as his 

representative with the authority to settle the matter. Third Party Defendant Goldstein 

will be representing himself and Katz at the mediation with an authority to settle on 

behalf of Katz. Given the procedural posture of the case, the parties will need an 

additional time to first complete mediation, then proceed to discovery and file pre-trial 

dispositive motions, if warranted, then finally prepare for trial. 

 6. On March 23, 2006, all of the parties through their counsel participated in 

the third telephone conference with Ms. Phillips. Based on the schedules of the parties, 

Case 4:05-cv-02226-PJH Document 57 Filed 04/13/06 Page 3 of 9
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1500 PARK AVE., SUITE 300 

EMERYVILLE, CA 94608 

(510) 597-1990 

________________________________________________________________ 4 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND TO 

EXTEND PRE-TRIAL DEADLINES 

counsel and evaluator, the earliest date available for mediation was June 14, 2006. Ms. 

Phillips will be in China for 3 weeks starting April 15, 2006. Counsel for Friel will be 

out of state for 3 weeks starting from May 1, 2006. Counsel for Plaintiff has a trial 

starting on May 22, 2006, which will likely last until the week of June 5, 2006. Thus, 

the parties agreed to proceed on June 14, 2006, in San Francisco. 

 7. In sum, the parties, through their respective counsel of record, hereby 

stipulate to mediate in lieu of proceeding to an ENE conference. Moreover, the parties 

hereby stipulate to amend the Deadlines as follows: 

 a) the mediation shall be completed on or before June 23, 2006; 

 b) the parties shall conclude all lay witness depositions by the Discovery 

Cutoff (as defined by Local Rules of United States District Court for the Northern 

District of California, Rule 26-2) of August 15, 2006, and the written discovery shall be 

completed by the Discovery Cutoff of August 15, 2006; 

 c) the parties shall conclude all expert witness depositions by August 31, 

2006; and 

 d) the parties shall file dispositive motions on or before September 15, 2006. 

 8. Moreover, in view of the pending mediation, the parties stipulate to 

extend the deadline for Third Party Defendants to respond to the third party complaint 

to 30 days after the completion of mediation. 

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KATZOFF & 

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1500 PARK AVE., SUITE 300 

EMERYVILLE, CA 94608 

(510) 597-1990 

________________________________________________________________ 6 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND TO 

EXTEND PRE-TRIAL DEADLINES 

ORDER

 Pursuant to Stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: April ___, 2006 

 

Phyllis J. Hamilton 

United States District Court Judge 

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORN

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A

IT IS SO ORDERED

Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton

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KATZOFF & 

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1500 PARK AVE., SUITE 300 

EMERYVILLE, CA 94608 

(510) 597-1990 

________________________________________________________________ 7 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND TO 

EXTEND PRE-TRIAL DEADLINES 

PROOF OF SERVICE

 I, the undersigned, declare that I am, and was at the time of service of the papers 

herein referred to, over the age of eighteen (18) years and not a party to the within 

action or proceeding. I am employed in the County of Alameda, State of California. 

My business address is 1500 Park Avenue, Suite 300, Emeryville, California 94608. I 

am familiar with the regular mail collection and processing practices of Katzoff & 

Riggs for correspondence deposited for mailing with the United States Postal Service. 

On April 7, 2006, I caused to be served the following document(s): 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MEDIATE IN LIEU OF EARLY 

NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND TO EXTEND PRE-TRIAL DEADLINES 

addressed to each such addressee respectively as follows: 

Maureen M. Bryan 

Scramstad & Bryan, P.C. 

2020 Bonifacio Street, Suite B 

Concord, CA 94520 

Tel. (925) 825-3393 / Fax (925) 825-2875 

I then served the addressees in the following manner: 

[X] VIA THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE by causing a true copy and/or 

original thereof to be placed in a sealed envelope with postage thereon fully prepaid in 

the designated area for outgoing mail. 

[ ] VIA FACSIMILE by causing such document to be served via facsimile on the 

parties in this action via facsimile numbers as stated on this proof of service. 

[ ] BY PERSONAL HAND DELIVERY on the parties in this action by causing a 

true copy and/or original thereof to be delivered by hand in person to the offices of the 

addressee(s). 

[ ] VIA OVERNIGHT COURIER by causing a true copy and/or original thereof to 

be personally delivered via the following overnight courier service: Golden State 

Overnight. 

I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the State of California and the 

United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on April 7, 

2006, at Emeryville, California. 

_______________________________ 

SUNG E. SHIM 

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