Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_08-cv-00905/USCOURTS-casd-3_08-cv-00905-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 480
Nature of Suit: Consumer Credit
Cause of Action: 15:1692 Fair Debt Collection Act

---

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

1 08cv905

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ASIF A. SIAL, an individual, Civil No. 08cv905 JM (CAB)

Plaintiff,

ORDER DENYING EX PARTE REQUEST

TO APPEAR TELEPHONICALLY

[Doc. No. 19.]

v.

UNIFUND CCR PARTNERS; and DOES 1

through 10 inclusive,

Defendants.

On October 23, 2008, this Court ordered a Mandatory Settlement Conference to be held on

February 20, 2009. The Order required the parties, or a party representative with full settlement

authority, to appear personally. On February 4, 2009, Defendant filed an ex parte request for its party

representative to appear telephonically. Defendant acknowledges it filed a similar motion in regards to

the Early Neutral Evaluation, which the Court denied. 

Unless there are extraordinary circumstances, persons required to attend the conference shall not

be excused from personal attendance. As in the previous motion, Defendant claims “[i]t would place an

extraordinary burden on Unifund, both in terms of time and expense, for Unifund’s representative to

travel across the country to attend the conference in person.” [Doc. No. 19 at 3.] However, in and of

itself, having to travel a long distance to appear in person is not extraordinary. Furthermore, while

Defendant claims “[v]ery little has occurred in this case since [the ENE],” it fails to note its

///

Case 3:08-cv-00905-JM-CAB Document 20 Filed 02/05/09 Page 1 of 2
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

2 08cv905

motion for judgment on the pleadings was denied in the intervening period. Accordingly, because

Defendant has failed to demonstrate extraordinary circumstances, the ex parte request is DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: February 5, 2009

CATHY ANN BENCIVENGO

United States Magistrate Judge

Case 3:08-cv-00905-JM-CAB Document 20 Filed 02/05/09 Page 2 of 2