Also known as: pre-trial conference · pretrial conferences · pre-trial conferences · pretrial hearing · status conference
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court-ordered meeting of counsel and unrepresented parties to formulate issues, facilitate settlement, and manage the case before trial.
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Progressive Healthcare sued Patriot Insurance over denied claims. Patriot served contention interrogatories seeking legal theories on coverage. At the pretrial conference the court deferred answers until after document production.
Preston Pratt faced murder charges. At the pretrial conference his counsel requested a psychiatric expert. The court granted funds after finding the defense could not proceed without evaluation.
Pedro Pacheco sued Pinnacle Holdings for breach. His counsel failed to appear at the scheduled pretrial conference. The court imposed costs on the attorney under its inherent authority.
Paul Peterson sued Phoenix Technologies for antitrust violations. At the pretrial conference the court narrowed the relevant market definition and eliminated duplicative claims.
Pamela Phillips sued General Electric over product defects. At the pretrial conference the court excluded unreliable expert opinions after reviewing methodology.
Peter Park sued Beech Aircraft after a crash. At the pretrial conference the court ruled on admissibility of investigative reports containing pilot statements.
The court may use the conference to simplify issues, eliminate frivolous claims, facilitate settlement, and set a trial plan.
The court may impose sanctions including costs or dismissal of claims under Rule 16(f).
Yes. The court may order that answers be postponed until designated discovery is complete or until the conference.
Yes. The rules require that counsel be authorized to stipulate on matters reasonably anticipated for discussion.
…taken from the crime scene. A laboratory analyst, relying upon a report the laboratory had prepared, initially stated (at a pretrial hearing about admissibility) that the laboratory had found that the crime-scene DNA sample matched a sample of the defendant’s DNA. But during the hearing and after reviewing the laboratory’s…