BOYD BOLAND, Magistrate Judge
This matter arises on the plaintiff's Motion to Leave to Appear By Phone at July 27, 2011 Case Management Conference [Doc. # 7, filed 7/13/2011] (the "Motion").
This case was commenced by the filing of a Complaint [Doc. # 1] on March 21, 2011. No return of service has been received; the defendant has not answered the Complaint or otherwise appeared in the action; and the plaintiff reports that "the Defendant is in the process of being served. . . ." Motion [Doc. # 7] at p. 1. Pursuant to Rule 4(m), Fed.R.Civ.P., service of process must be completed within 120 days of the filing of the Complaint or, in this case, by July 19, 2011.
Contrary to the plaintiff's representation in the Motion, the case is set for both a scheduling conference and a settlement conference on July 27, 2011. In my experience, settlement conferences are rarely successful if all parties and their counsel are not present in person. In cases like this one, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, settlement conferences at the earliest stages, and usually at the same time as the scheduling conference, are the most likely to be successful. But it is futile to hold a settlement conference before the defendant has been served, retained counsel, and had an opportunity to review the facts and circumstances alleged. Consequently,
IT IS ORDERED:
(1) The Motion [Doc. # 7] is DENIED insofar as it seeks leave for plaintiff's counsel to appear by telephone. At the appropriate time, counsel must appear in person;
(2) The scheduling and settlement conference set for July 27, 2011, at 10:00 a.m., is VACATED and RESET to September 15, 2011, at 10:30 a.m., in Courtroom 401, 4th floor, Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse, 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado;
(3) The parties must comply with the requirements of the Order Setting Rule 16(b) Scheduling Conference and Rule 26(f) Planning Meeting [Doc. # 5] in advance of the scheduling conference on September 15, 2011. The proposed scheduling order shall be submitted to the court no later than September 8, 2011; and
(4) The parties must comply with the requirements of the Minute Order [Doc. # 4] in advance of the settlement conference on September 15, 2011. Counsel, a party representative with full authority to settle the case, and an insurance adjustor if any part of the claim is an insured event, must all be present at the conference in person. The parties shall submit confidential settlement statements to my chambers on or before September 8, 2011, containing a discussion of the facts and issues of the case and a specific offer of compromise, including a dollar amount the client will accept or pay in settlement and any other essential terms of a settlement.