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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO. 20-cv-81244-Middlebrooks/Brannon

WILLIAM HERBERT BRITT,

Plaintiff,

v.

WAL-MART STORES EAST, LP,

Defendant.

_____________________________________/

ORDER SCHEDULING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE VIA ZOOM VTC

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon referral to the undersigned to conduct a 

settlement conference. See DE 44. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS as follows:

1. Conference Date: A settlement conference shall be held on March 12, 2021, at 10:00 

a.m. by Zoom Video Tele-Conference (VTC)—all counsel, parties, insurance adjusters and 

anyone else attending the Settlement Conference shall attend by Zoom VTC. The undersigned’s

Courtroom Deputy Ken Zuniga will, at a later date, email the Zoom Link to counsel of record for 

dissemination to all attending. 

Counsel must meet (in-person or remotely) with their clients in advance of the settlement 

conference to discuss measures that will ensure that both counsel and client have the ability to 

participate in a Zoom meeting by audio and video, with a stable internet connection. In 

particular, clients unfamiliar with Zoom should do an advance trial run at the location where they 

will participate in the settlement conference. If there is any doubt about a client’s ability to 

maintain a stable connection to Zoom during the settlement conference, counsel shall make 

arrangements for the client to participate in the settlement conference at counsel’s office. 

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2. Mandatory Attendance: Parties and their lead counsel must personally appear at 

the conference by Zoom. An individual with full and complete authority to negotiate and finalize

a settlement for each party must be present. Counsel and the parties should be prepared to work 

through the afternoon if necessary. A corporate party shall send a representative with full and 

complete authority to bind the company. Such mandatory appearance is intended to increase the 

effectiveness of the settlement conference. As such, failure to produce the appropriate person(s) 

or failure to participate in good faith may result in an award of costs, attorney fees, or other 

appropriate sanctions.

3. Pre-Conference Settlement Efforts: Prior to the settlement conference, the parties 

shall negotiate and make a good faith effort to settle the case without the Court’s involvement. 

Proposals and counter proposals shall be made. If settlement is not achieved, the parties shall be 

prepared to engage in further good faith negotiation at the conference. 

4. Confidential Settlement Memoranda: Each party’s counsel shall email to 

chambers (matthewman@flsd.uscourts.gov), but not file, a candid memorandum of five pages or 

less with its respective views in the light most favorable to its client, as well as any proposed 

settlement amount(s), citation to legal authority, or additional information that will be helpful to 

the Court in preparing for the settlement conference. Each memorandum shall include a specific 

recitation of relevant facts, a discussion of case strengths and weaknesses, and a report on the 

parties’ pre-conference settlement efforts outlined above. If not already part of the record, copies 

of any critical agreements, business records, photographs, or other documents shall be attached 

to the memorandum. The memoranda shall be emailed by 5:00 p.m. on March 5, 2021. Counsel

shall indicate what portions of the submissions, if any, may be shared with opposing counsel at 

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the settlement conference. Otherwise, the information will not be shared. All party submissions 

pertaining to settlement will be returned to counsel after the settlement conference. 

5. Conference Format: The Court will generally use a mediation format: a joint 

session with opening presentations by the Court and each side followed by private caucusing by 

the Court with each side. The Court expects counsel and all party representatives to be fully 

prepared to participate.

6. Proposed Settlement Agreements: Each party’s counsel shall have prepared a 

proposed settlement agreement.

DONE and ORDERED in Chambers at West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida, 

this 10th day of February, 2021.

WILLIAM MATTHEWMAN 

United States Magistrate Judge

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