Judge Sargent welcomes the opportunity to conduct settlement conferences in an attempt to resolve matters pending on the court's docket. If a party desires to schedule a settlement conference, a request should be made to the presiding judge to refer the matter to Judge Sargent to conduct a settlement conference. Once the referral is made, the settlement conference will be scheduled.
Judge Sargent routinely schedules an entire day for settlement conference. In addition to counsel, Judge Sargent requires each party or a representative of each party to be present at the settlement conference.
Please see Settlement Conference Preparation for suggestions regarding how to prepare for a successful settlement conference.
Once a settlement conference is scheduled, Judge Sargent enters a standard Settlement Conference Order setting out the procedures to be followed and setting deadlines for each side to provide confidential ex parte statements to Judge Sargent in advance of the settlement conference. The confidential statements can be electronically forwarded to Judge Sargent at pamelas@vawd.uscourts.gov, and to her judicial assistant, Robin Bordwine at robinb@vawd.uscourts.gov.