The Resolve Law LA Virtual MSC Program provides free 3-hour volunteer staffed virtual MSCs for cases in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County's personal injury cases and non-complex employment cases. To be eligible, cases must have been ordered into the program by a judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles pursuant to the applicable Standing Order issued by the Court.
Personal injury cases are usually appropriate for the program when they are close to trial, discovery is complete, and the parties and insurer are ready to seriously consider settlement.
The Employment Case Mandatory Settlement Conference Program encourages resolution of non-complex employment cases assigned Independent Calendar (IC} courtrooms. Employment cases sent into the program should involve small businesses, short-term employees, failure-to-hire situations, readily quantifiable damages, or otherwise be cases likely to require less discovery, and be suitable for early dispute resolution. The Program targets cases where a successful MSC can be held within six to nine months of filing and before extensive discovery has taken place.
Attorney members of ASCDC, BHBA, CAALA, CELA, LA-ABOTA and LACBA with at least 10 years litigation experience serve as the program's volunteer Settlement Officers. Each MSC will be staffed by one Plaintiff Settlement Officer and one Defense Settlement Officer. The Settlement Officers perform conflict checks for the cases to which they are assigned and must confirm that they have no conflicts before proceeding on the case. Virtual MSCs are held via Zoom, are 3-hours long, and are conducted at 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Monday-Friday each week. Virtual MSCs will not be held on court holidays.
How Can I Register to Be a Volunteer Settlement Officer?
If you wish to volunteer to be a Settlement Officer, click here. Instructional materials are provided to assist Settlement Officers with conducting Zoom MSCs and are available here.
How Does a Case Get Ordered into the Virtual MSC Program?
The Resolve Law LA Virtual MSC Program is available for cases ordered into the program. This is a Court ordered MSC and all appropriate decision makers must attend the Virtual MSC.
How Does a Case Get Scheduled for the Virtual MSC?
Cases are only eligible for the Virtual MSC Program if they have been ordered into the program. If you are counsel for Plaintiff in a case ordered to an MSC and want to schedule the MSC, you must first create an account for yourself. To create an account as Plaintiff's counsel, click here.
Once Plaintiff's counsel has created an account, counsel will need to Register a Case before scheduling the MSC. Case registration occurs through Plaintiff's counsel's Dashboard and requires Plaintiff's counsel to input defense counsel's name, address, email address, phone number and State Bar number. Plaintiff's counsel will not be able to select the Settlement Officers to be assigned to the case as the system assigns Settlement Officers based on the Settlement Officers' availability.
Once a case has been registered, Plaintiff's counsel will select a date and time for the MSC after having confirmed that all parties, their counsel, and all necessary decision makers are available for the date and time being selected. Plaintiff's counsel is prohibited by the Superior Court of Los Angeles County applicable Standing Order from scheduling the MSC without first obtaining written confirmation of defense counsel's and Defendant's availability for the date and time being scheduled.
Plaintiff's counsel may cancel any scheduled MSC through their Dashboard. If an MSC is canceled for any reason, the Resolve Law LA system will notify the Settlement Officers assigned to the case and defense counsel. Settlement Officer has discretion to disregard any documents submitted which exceed these limits.
The uploaded MSC briefs are electronically delivered to the Settlement Officers assigned to the case. The MSC briefs are not delivered or made available to the opposing party. Counsel must also serve the MSC brief to all parties. MSC briefs remain available to the attorney who uploaded the brief through that attorney's Dashboard.
Once a case has been scheduled for an MSC, the Resolve Law LA system will automatically send confirmation emails with the date and time of the MSC, brief upload instructions, and connection instructions for the virtual MSC to Plaintiff's and Defendant's counsel. The system will also email or text parties with connection instructions and a Zoom link if counsel for the party has input the party's contact information into the system 24-hours prior to your scheduled MSC. It is the responsibility of each counsel to ensure that their client attends the scheduled MSC. There is an instructional video from Los Angeles County Superior Court that each party must watch at the beginning of each MSC.
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County will have a judge available to assist the parties should such assistance become necessary. The Settlement Officers in your case will be able to contact the Superior Court of Los Angeles County and request a judge to join the proceedings as needed.
A fillable form Settlement Agreement is available for download. The Resolve Law LA System does not provide for electronic execution of settlement related documents. Counsel for the parties should download the fillable Settlement Agreement, input all appropriate terms into the form, and obtain execution by their clients via email, fax, or electronic signature, per the preferences and services used by each attorney.
A form Stipulation for Retention of Jurisdiction per C.C.P. Section 664.6 and [Proposed] Order and Request for Dismissal forms are also provided should counsel need them.