24.5.318    PRETRIAL CONFERENCE, PRETRIAL ORDER, AND EXHIBITS

(1) The court holds a pretrial conference in every case it expects to proceed to trial.

(a) Generally, the pretrial conference takes place 2 weeks before trial.

(b) The parties shall present any disputes regarding the content of the pretrial order at the pretrial conference.

(c) The court appoints a hearing examiner to conduct the pretrial conference and delegates authority to the hearing examiner to rule on all matters discussed at the pretrial conference, including pretrial motions of the parties.

(d) The court may conduct a pretrial conference by phone.

(2) The court requires a pretrial order as follows:

(a) At least one week prior to the pretrial conference, the parties shall confer to determine the contents of the pretrial order. The petitioner, or, in cases involving a pro sé petitioner, the respondent, shall include the following in the pretrial order:

(i) a statement of jurisdiction pursuant to the appropriate statutes;

(ii) a list of all pending motions;

(iii) any uncontested facts;

(iv) any stipulations between the parties;

(v) a joint statement of the issues to be determined by the court;

(vi) the parties' contentions, including contentions that the claimant argues provide a basis for a claim of unreasonableness on the part of the insurer;

(vii) a list of all exhibits to be offered by each party on an attached exhibit list;

(viii) a list of all witnesses, including the name, address, and occupation of each witness, and a summary of the subject matter on which the parties expect each witness to testify;

(ix) any unusual legal or evidentiary issues;

(x) the estimated length of trial;

(xi) a statement as to whether the parties intend to file trial briefs and/or proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law;

(xii) a statement as to whether the parties have taken or scheduled depositions; and

(xiii) the trial date, if known.

(b) By the dates specified by the court, the petitioner, or, in cases involving a pro sé petitioner, the respondent, shall submit the proposed and final pretrial orders in the form set forth in ARM 24.5.318(2)(a)(i) through (xiii). The court considers pretrial orders submitted by fax or e-mail attachment compliant with the submission deadlines.

(c) The parties shall sign the final pretrial order at trial. Upon the judge's signature, the court files the final pretrial order, which supersedes all other pleadings and governs the trial proceedings. The court allows amendments to the final pretrial order either by stipulation of the parties or for good cause.

(3) The court adheres to the following exhibit rules:

(a) The parties shall prepare any exhibits as follows:

(i) Prior to the pretrial conference, the respondent shall provide to the petitioner sufficient copies for all parties of every exhibit that the respondent intends to offer for admission, including deposition exhibits. The respondent shall separate and number each exhibit, and number the pages within each exhibit (for example, Ex. 1-1). In the case of a pro sé petitioner, the pro sé petitioner shall provide the respondent with sufficient copies for all parties of every exhibit that the petitioner intends to offer for admission, including deposition exhibits. The pro sé petitioner shall separate and number each exhibit, and number the pages within each exhibit (for example, Ex. 1-1).

(ii) The parties may not submit duplicate exhibits unless the duplicate exhibit is imperative to the understanding of the subject records or, in the case of medical records, one provider is relying on the records of another provider.

(b) The parties shall prepare an exhibit list as follows:

(i) For each exhibit, the petitioner, or, in cases involving a pro sé petitioner, the respondent, shall set forth the following in the exhibit list:

(A) the exhibit number;

(B) a description of the exhibit;

(C) the number of pages in the exhibit;

(D) the offering party;

(E) whether any other party objects to the exhibit;

(F) the grounds upon which any objecting party bases the objection(s); and

(G) a blank column reserved for the court's decision on the admissibility of the exhibit.

(ii) The petitioner, or in cases involving a pro sé petitioner, the respondent, shall revise all copies of the exhibit list as necessary to reflect changes or additions requested by the court or agreed to by the parties at the pretrial conference.

(c) The parties shall prepare an exhibit book as follows:

(i) The petitioner, or, in cases involving a pro sé petitioner, the respondent, shall prepare the exhibit book, including:

(A) verifying that all parties' exhibits and their pages are numbered;

(B) combining and tabbing the exhibits;

(C) either binding the exhibits or placing them in a three-ring notebook; and

(D) including the exhibit list in the front of each exhibit book.

(ii) By a date specified by the court, the petitioner, or, in cases involving a pro sé petitioner, the respondent, shall:

(A) file the exhibit book by mail or hand delivery;

(B) provide conformed copies of the exhibit book to all parties at the time of filing;

(C) bring to trial a conformed exhibit book for any witness testifying live; and

(D) provide a conformed exhibit book to any witness testifying via videoconference.

(iii) The court may refuse to accept exhibits that do not meet these criteria and/or may order resubmission of the exhibits in the correct format.

 

History: 2-4-201, MCA; IMP, 2-4-201, 39-71-2901, MCA; NEW, 1983 MAR p. 1715, Eff. 11/26/83; TRANS, from ARM 2.52.318, 1989 MAR p. 2177, Eff. 12/22/89; AMD, 1990 MAR p. 847, Eff. 5/1/90; AMD, 1994 MAR p. 27, Eff. 1/14/94; AMD, 1996 MAR p. 557, Eff. 2/23/96; AMD, 2003 MAR p. 650, Eff. 4/11/03; AMD, 2014 MAR p. 2829, Eff. 3/1/15; AMD, 2018 MAR p. 305, Eff. 3/15/18.