Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

If I understand your question, at least in terms of context, you indicated that your former counsel had a substance abuse issue. I recommend that you contact the local bar association and check to see what resources are available to clients whose cases were disadvantaged because of an attorney's substance abuse related impairment. As for the mandatory settlement conference, you should consider hiring an attorney to at least handle this aspect of your case or to help you request a continuance in light of the problem that you described. You may want to look at these options: arbitration or mediation. But you should not be making these decisions on your own. Contact the bar association as soon as possible.

I assume you are in San Diego County Superior Court.

Local Rule 2.2.3 will guide you as to what your settlement conference statement should contain. Your statement cannot exceed five pages. Essentially, you need to say why you believe the defendant should pay you money, and you need to itemize your losses. You need to set forth a settlement demand -- which is essentially your opening offer at the settlement conference, and what the last offer(s) was/were.

Without knowing more about your case, it's not possible to guide you any further. If you cannot find an attorney to handle this case for you, I suggest you retain counsel on a limited-scope basis to help you prepare the statement, and otherwise guide you in the litigation process. You might check with the San Diego County Bar Association for assistance. I also represent people on a limited-scope basis, depending on the type of case involved -- feel free to contact me if you believe I can be of help.