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9th Circuit rules that US govt petition on settlement authority warrants responses
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Posted on Jan 12 2012
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has determined that the U.S. government’s petition that challenged the district court’s ruling on settlement authority in connection with John K. Baldwin’s $5.6 million federal tax refund lawsuit raises issues that warrant a response.
Ninth Circuit judges ruled Tuesday that the U.S. government’s petition for writ of mandamus presents issues that need a response from the parties in the lawsuit.
The U.S. government filed the emergency petition asking the Ninth Circuit to order the district court to vacate its orders.
Senior District Judge Alex Munson’s orders denied the U.S. government’s motions to excuse the government from the requirement that person with full settlement authority attend the settlement conference in Baldwin’s lawsuit.
The Ninth Circuit order gave Baldwin 14 days to file a response to the U.S. government’s petition. The Ninth Circuit also gave the district court 14 days to file a response if it wishes to do so.
The U.S. government may file a reply within five days after service of the response(s), the Ninth Circuit judges said.
“All pending motions are held in abeyance pending further order of the court,” the Ninth Circuit judges said.
Last Friday, Munson issued an order resetting the settlement conference in Baldwin’s lawsuit to Feb. 29, 2012, in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, at the Northern Division of the U.S. District Court of Idaho. He ordered the parties in the lawsuit to have representatives with full settlement authority attend the conference.
The U.S. government is objecting that the district court is requiring it to send a fairly high ranking official to attend a “routine settlement conference.” Munson pointed out, though, that there is nothing routine about settlements involving millions of dollars.
The settlement conference in Baldwin’s lawsuit was originally set for Oct. 17, 2011, in Idaho before Munson. The U.S. government twice moved the district court to reconsider its ruling. The federal court denied both motions. This prompted the U.S. government to bring the settlement authority issue to the Ninth Circuit. The appeal prompted Munson on Oct. 7, 2011 to cancel the scheduled Oct. 17 settlement conference.
