Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_05-cv-01945/USCOURTS-caed-2_05-cv-01945-4/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 190
Nature of Suit: Other Contract Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Other Contract

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 1

ROBERT A. BELLAGAMBA, ESQ. BAR#: 56537

J. KEVIN MOORE, ESQ. BAR#: 153744

CLAPP, MORONEY, BELLAGAMBA and VUCINICH

A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

6130 Stoneridge Mall Road, Suite 275

Pleasanton, CA 94588

(925) 734-0990 Fax: (925) 734-0888

Attorneys for DEFENDANT/

THIRD PARTY COMPLAINANT

TURNER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

C. INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION,

Plaintiff,

v.

TURNER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY,

Defendant.

TURNER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

Third Party Complainant,

v.

ALPHA OMEGA PAINTING, ET AL.

Third Party Defendants.

CASE NO.: 2:05-CV-01945-DFL-KJM

STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL

MASTER AND ORDER

The parties to this action, by and through their attorneys of

record, hereby stipulate that THOMAS CASTLE, ESQ. and PETER DEKKER,

ESQ., Griffiths, Castle & Schwartzman, 2000 Crow Canyon Place, Suite

190, San Ramon, CA 94583, (925) 904-0111, (925) 904-0110 FAX, shall

be appointed as Special Master in this matter by agreement pursuant

///

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 2

to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 53 and California Code of

Civil Procedure Sections 638 and 187.

The duties and powers of the Special Master shall be as set

forth herein.

1. The Special Master shall coordinate all discovery and all

law and motion matters related to discovery. The Special Master

may, among other things, hear and make recommendations, open

discovery, order production of documents to a depository, order

disclosure of percipient and/or expert witnesses, control written

discovery in his discretion, order site inspections and visual nondestructive and/or destructive testing, and issue such other

recommendations to the Court as he deems appropriate to orderly case

management.

2. The Special Master is empowered to order the parties to

attend settlement conferences and conduct those settlement

conferences when he deems it appropriate and may, as a function of

ordering such settlement conferences require the attendance of

counsel, parties or representatives of parties with full authority

to settle, and/or consultants; to meet with the parties and their

counsel together and/or separately; to order site inspections and

attendance by parties and their consultants and experts; to require

counsel to provide statements pertaining to legal and factual

issues; to refer special problems affecting settlement which require

the assistance of the Court to the supervising judge; and to issue

such other orders with reference to the settlement conference(s) as

he deems appropriate to the settlement process. 

3. The Special Master shall convene settlement conferences,

when he deems it appropriate and oversee settlement discussions 

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 3

between the parties; meet with counsel and the parties together

and/or separately; require counsel to provide statements pertaining

to legal and factual issues; and refer special problems affecting

settlement which require the assistance of the Court to the

supervising judge as may be proper within the context of settlement

conference confidentiality. 

4. The Special Master may supervise, plan, coordinate and

make recommendations concerning procedural issues, including, but

not limited to (a) the consolidation of related actions, (b) time

limitations and ground rules for filing and service of complaints,

cross-complaints and responsive pleadings, and (c) assigning the

matter a trial date.

5. The Special Master may appoint a lead defense

representative who shall be responsible for coordinating matters

among the defense attorneys as they appear in the action. This

coordination may include organizing and issuing joint defense

responses, organizing requests for joint inspections and testing, or

such other matters as the Special Master deems appropriate.

6. The Special Master shall periodically report the status of

the matter to the supervising judge, together with such recommended

orders relating to discovery and case management as well as other

recommendations as may assist the Court. Recommendations provided

to the Court shall be circulated by the Special Master by fax to

counsel for comment and, in the absence of objection submitted

within five (5) days of receipt of said recommendation, shall be

filed with the Court. The time for response to a proposed order may

be reduced by the Special Master under exigent circumstances, upon

specific notice to the parties. In the event any party timely 

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 4

communicates an objection to a recommendation which is circulated by

the Special Master and such recommendation is submitted to the Court

by the Special Master, any party that opposes the recommendation

shall, within the time set by stipulation of the parties or by the

Special Master, or such other time as is provided by the California

Code of Civil Procedure, file a statement of opposition together

with points and authorities in support thereof with the Court, with

a courtesy copy to the chambers of the assigned judge, and serve

such statement of opposition points and authorities on the Special

Master and all counsel of record. Failure to file a statement of

opposition shall be deemed to be acquiescence in the recommended

order.

7. All law and motion matters; with the exception of

discovery motions and motions to amend the pleadings, including but

not limited to, the addition of new parties; shall not be heard by

the Special Master.

8. The fees and costs of the Special Master will be

apportioned equitably among the parties by the Special Master (e.g.,

if only three parties participate in a meeting then only those

parties would be charged for that meeting) and shall be subject to

review by the Court upon request of any party or the Special Master.

Furthermore, once a party is dismissed from the action, this

stipulation shall terminate as of the date of the dismissal for the

dismissed party only, and the dismissed party shall be responsible

for the payment of fees only up to and including the date of the

dismissal. The Court shall retain jurisdiction after dismissal of

the action to hear any motion related to apportionment or nonpayment of the fees and costs of the Special Master.

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 5

9. This Stipulation may be signed in counterparts.

IT IS FURTHER AGREED by and between each of the parties to this

Stipulation that all communications, negotiations, and settlement

discussions by and between counsel and parties to this action shall

be confidential, in accordance with California Evidence Code

Sections 703.5, 1119, 1121, 1152, and 1154 and Federal Rules of

Evidence Rules 403 and 408, and that anything said or any admission

made by attorneys, parties, principals, consultants, or others in

the course of the settlement discussions, and any document prepared

for the purpose of, or in the course of, or pursuant to, the

settlement process are deemed confidential communications, and shall

not be admissible in evidence or subject to discovery, and

disclosure of such evidence shall not be compelled in this, or any

other proceeding, provided that said confidentiality is waived for

the purposes of any motion to enter judgment pursuant to the terms

of a settlement under California Code of Civil Procedure

Section 664.6 or 664.7 Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to

constitute a Court order for the sealing of any materials filed with

the Court or Special Master, absent a hearing and the findings

required by California Rules of Court Rule 243.

By signing the consent to serve, the Special Master

independently represent that (1) he has not had any significant

personal relationship with a party, attorney or law firm in the

instant case but that he may have had a professional relationship in

that he is aware of no matter that requires disclosure under

subdivisions (D)(2)(f) and (D)(2)(g) of Canon 6 of the California

Code of Judicial Ethics, and that he may have previously, including

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 6

within the past 24 months, acted as Special Master, mediator,

discovery referee, arbitrator or other neutral dispute resolution

provider in similar matters involving some of the attorneys,

parties, insurance companies and experts involved in this action and

been compensated therefor, and that he is aware of no facts that

create a conflict of interest or other grounds for disqualification.

The stipulating parties hereby agree to the appointment of the

Special Master and Mediator conditioned upon receipt and acceptance

of the disclosures required under California Rules of Court Rule

244, 244,1 or 244.2.

[Signatures to follow]

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 7

DATED: ____________, 2005 Reed Smith LLP

By: 

Donald P. Rubenstein, Esq.

Attorneys for Plaintiff

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 8

DATED: ____________, 2005 Burnham Brown

By: 

Steven M. Marden, Esq.

Attorneys for DeSilva Gates

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 9

DATED: ____________, 2005 Greve, Clifford, Wengel &

Paras, LLP

By: 

Gary L. Vinson, Esq.

Attorneys for Kleinfelder, Inc.

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 10

DATED: ____________, 2005 Adorno, Yoss, Alvarado & Smith

By: 

Raul F. Salinas, Esq.

Attorneys for Cal-Air, Inc.

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 11

DATED: ____________, 2005 Vitale & Lowe

By: 

Suzanne A. Tollefson, Esq.

Attorneys for Western Single Ply

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 12

DATED: ____________, 2005 Clapp, Moroney, Bellagamba and

Vucinich

By: 

J. Kevin Moore, Esq.

Attorneys for Turner Construction

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 13

DATED: ____________, 2006 Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith

LLP

By: 

Edward F. Morrison, Esq.

Jeffrey B. Stoltz,, Esq.

Attorneys for JD2, Inc.

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 14

DATED: ____________, 2006 Anwyl, Scoffield & Stepp, LLP

By: 

Leigh A. Stepp, Esq.

Attorneys for Alpha Omega Painting

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 15

DATED: ____________, 2006 Miller Starr & Regalia

By: 

William D. Pahland, Jr., Esq.

Attorneys for Moisture Control

Technologies

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 16

DATED: ____________, 2006 Hanson Bridgett Marcus Vlahos &

Rudy LLP

By: 

Howard W. Ashcroft, Jr., Esq.

Attorneys for Raymond Professional

Group

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 17

DATED: ____________, 2006 Pandell Law Firm, Inc.

By: 

James C. Jardin, Esq.

Attorneys for Lowney Associates

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 18

I HEREBY CONSENT TO THE ABOVE REFERENCE. I certify that I am

aware of and will comply with the applicable provisions of Canon 6

of the Code of Judicial Ethics and Rules of Court, Rule 244.2

DATED: ________, 2006 _____________________________

THOMAS CASTLE, ESQ.

Special Master 

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 19

I HEREBY CONSENT TO THE ABOVE REFERENCE. I certify that I am

aware of and will comply with the applicable provisions of Canon 6

of the Code of Judicial Ethics and Rules of Court, Rule 244.2

DATED: ________, 2006 _____________________________

PETER DEKKER, ESQ.

Special Master 

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STIPULATION TO APPOINT SPECIAL MASTER 20

The court makes this appointment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 53.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: 3/23/2006

DAVID F. LEVI

United States District Judge

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