Idaho settlement conference in $5.6M tax refund lawsuit nixed

The federal court has canceled the scheduled settlement conference in the $5.6 million federal tax refund lawsuit filed by businessman John K. Baldwin against the United States of America.

U.S. District Court for the NMI senior district judge Alex R. Munson ordered Friday that the settlement conference in Baldwin’s lawsuit currently set for Oct. 17, 2011, in the District of Idaho is taken off calendar.

Munson issued the order after the U.S. government filed an emergency motion for stay and brought to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit a legal issue as to who should attend the settlement conference.

Deputy assistant attorney general Tamara W. Ashford filed the emergency petition asking the Ninth Circuit to order the U.S. District Court for the NMI (Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona and Senior Judge Alex R. Munson) to vacate their orders issued on Sept. 9, 13, and 14, 2011.

In the Sept. 9 order, Munson denied the U.S. government’s emergency motion to excuse the government from the requirement that a person with full settlement authority attend the settlement conference in Baldwin’s lawsuit.

In his Sept. 13 order, Munson stood pat in his earlier decision that a person with authority to recommend any settlement reached to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation must be present at the conference.

Manglona, in her Sept. 14 order, denied the U.S. government’s second emergency motion.

In the U.S. government’s petition in the Ninth Circuit, Ashford said the orders raise the issue whether the District Court has the authority to direct that the U.S., its agencies, or its officers in their official capacities must appear in routine settlement conferences.

Ashford said the orders also raise the issue whether, if such authority exists, it has been abused under the circumstances of this case.

Baldwin, through counsel Deborah Deitsch-Perez, on Thursday informed the federal court that he will oppose the stay motion by responding to both the District Court motion and the Ninth Circuit motion.

Deitsch-Perez said because of travel requirements, Baldwin requests that the briefing schedule for the District Court motion be adjusted to match the Ninth Circuit’s briefing schedule and that a decision be rendered as quickly as possible.

The lawyer said that, to attend the settlement conference, Baldwin will be traveling to Idaho from either the CNMI or Asia.