Unless a party requests otherwise, and I agree, I will conduct settlement conferences by ZOOM. This should reduce the cost of having all necessary participants present and available during the conference.

Lead trial counsel for all parties shall participate in the settlement conference. Co-counsel may participate in addition to or - upon notification - as a substitute for lead counsel if he or she is not available.

Persons representing corporate, institutional, governmental, or similar parties, shall have full authority to settle the case. “Full authority” means that the representative shall have the authority to: 1) make a final and binding decision as to settlement; and 2) settle in an amount up to the opposing party’s final pre-conference demand.**

**I understand that it will be highly unlikely that this will be the amount for which the case will settle. But, if in the unusual circumstance the representative concludes that paying that amount is appropriate, I want that representative to be able make that commitment at the conference. In other words, I expect the person to whom “the call” would be made will be participating in the conference.