Also known as: pretrial orders · pre-trial order · pre-trial orders · pretrial conference order
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court order issued after a pretrial conference that recites the action taken at the conference. The order controls the course of the action unless the court modifies it.
Phuong Pham sued Prism Analytics in federal court. The judge ordered counsel to meet and file a joint pretrial order with agreed exhibit lists by May 1. Prism's lawyer skipped the meeting and filed a unilateral draft on May 10. The court imposed monetary sanctions on Prism's lawyer for the resulting expenses.
Pearl Porter sued Patriot Insurance over a denied claim. After the pretrial order limited the issues, Patriot's counsel repeatedly filed motions outside the order's scope. The district court invoked its inherent power to sanction the conduct and awarded fees to Porter.
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Pablo Perez brought a civil rights action against a government official. The district court denied qualified immunity in a pretrial order. The official sought immediate appeal, arguing the order was effectively final on the immunity question.
Paige Porter filed a divorce action in Iowa while a one-year residency requirement remained in effect. The district court entered a pretrial order certifying a class of similarly situated plaintiffs. The Supreme Court later addressed whether the named plaintiff's departure from the state mooted the class claims.
Patricia Patel sued Mohawk Industries alleging retaliation. The district court ordered production of privileged documents in a pretrial order. Mohawk sought immediate review, but the Supreme Court held that most such discovery orders are not immediately appealable.
Pierre Poulin sued Curtis for housing discrimination and sought actual and punitive damages. The pretrial order framed the issues for a jury trial. The Supreme Court confirmed that the Seventh Amendment entitled the defendant to a jury on the legal claims.
The court may impose sanctions including monetary penalties for reasonable expenses and attorney's fees caused by the noncompliance. The sanctioning power also extends to orders comparable to those available for discovery violations.
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The order recites the action taken at the conference, incorporates admissions and stipulations, lists the issues remaining for trial, and notes requirements for filing statements or lists of evidence and witnesses.
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Yes. The court may direct the parties to formulate and simplify the issues and to eliminate frivolous claims or defenses so that later discovery and trial focus on genuinely disputed matters.
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The order controls the course of the action unless modified. Issues or claims omitted from the order are generally waived, and evidence outside its scope may be excluded.
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…and adequately protect the interests of the class. See Rule 23 (a). This stipulation was approved by the District Court in a pretrial order.[^maj-5] After the submission of briefs and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law by the parties, the three-judge court by a divided vote upheld the constitutionality of the…