Opinion ID: 4521882
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Judicial Settlement Conferences

Text: [¶13] On September 23, 2016, the court (L. Walker, J.) conducted a settlement conference with the parties, but the case was not settled.3 On October 12, 2016, the same judge who had served as the mediator held a follow-up telephone conference with counsel, after which the court ordered the parties to brief the issues addressed during the telephone conference, including whether the Bank had “complied with the court’s order to have present all persons with full settlement authority who [were] prepared to make reasonable concessions.” [¶14] On November 18, 2016, Manning filed a motion for contempt against the Bank for its conduct at the settlement conference, arguing that the Bank had “fail[ed] to produce a representative with authority to settle,” made misrepresentations to the court, and failed to negotiate in good faith. On April 11, 2017, the court ordered the parties to “negotiate fastidiously in good 3 In an order entered on July 20, 2018, the court stated that, at the settlement conference, “the Bank represented to the court that better terms could not be offered unless the [pooling and servicing agreement] was reformed. [The] court relied on the Bank’s representations and terminated the [settlement conference] without reaching [a] settlement.” 7 faith” in order to resolve all claims and, if no agreement was reached by April 28, the court would hold a one-day testimonial hearing on Manning’s motion for contempt.4 [¶15] On October 6, 2017, Manning filed a renewed motion for contempt, arguing that the court should dismiss the Bank’s foreclosure complaint with prejudice “or, in the alternative, hold the Bank in contempt and impose sanctions.” The court held a hearing on the motion on February 9, 2018, and conducted a second judicial settlement conference on May 18, 2018. [¶16] On July 20, 2018, the court granted Manning’s motion for contempt and imposed sanctions on the Bank, ordering it to pay Manning’s attorney fees and costs “associated with preparation for and attendance [at] both Judicial Settlement Conferences.” The court found that the Bank had “failed to comply with the court’s order regarding the judicial settlement conference, despite having the ability to do so.” The court “stop[ped] short” of dismissing the case with prejudice, and left it to the trial court to “consider the [Bank’s] conduct . . . 4 On May 12, 2017, the Bank filed a motion to vacate the court’s April 11, 2017, order, arguing that “the foreclosure action is non-justiciable [because] the court relinquished its subject matter jurisdiction over the parties and the claims by the entry of the June 1, 2015, order dismissing the case.” On September 8, 2017, the court denied the Bank’s motion. 8 during the course of the litigation generally as to whether dismissal with prejudice is justified as a final disposition” of the case.5 [¶17] By this time, it had been more than three years since the court’s June 1, 2015, order dismissing the Bank’s foreclosure complaint without prejudice and Manning’s subsequent June 15, 2015, motion for reconsideration.