The Court has issued its First Amendment to Hurricane Ida Case Management Order No. 1. The features of the amendment are as follows:
• The amendment encourages the parties to use the two forms attached to it as Exhibits B & C to set forth their respective settlement positions at the informal settlement conference and mediation. It creates a uniform method for doing so.
• The amendment eliminates the requirement that the parties affirmatively contact the Court or Program Administrator (“PA”) to request a mediation be set, replacing it with an automatic 75-day window for disclosures and informal settlement conference, after which the PA will automatically set the case for mediation.
• The one-time limit on deadlines is extended to 21 days, consistent with LR 7.8.
• The appointment of umpires where appraisal is invoked will be resolved solely by the Chief Magistrate Judge rather than the presiding Magistrate Judge.