Missoula County District Court, Montana Pre-Motion Conference Requirements

CRITICAL

A master-supervised settlement conference in accordance with the scheduling order must be held before the case is set for trial.

The case will not be set for trial unless a master-supervised settlement conference is held in accordance with the scheduling order.

CRITICAL

A motion hearing will not take place unless it is scheduled under Rule 4 of the Local Rules.

There will be no hearings on motions unless scheduled in accordance with Rule 4 of the Local Rules.

CRITICAL

A motion in limine will not be granted unless the party has requested that opposing counsel not offer the evidence and counsel rejected the request or did not respond.

The Court will not grant a motion in limine unless a party asserts in the motion that it has requested that opposing counsel not offer the evidence but counsel has either rejected the requests or not responded.

CRITICAL

Arguments or motions on issues not fully briefed or noticed for hearing, and certain allegations first raised at trial or a hearing, may be treated as disruptive and cause sanctions.

Argument or motions on issues not fully briefed or noticed for heating as well as allegations of improper or unethical conduct by an attorney or party which are being raised for the first time during a trial or court hearing are generally considered efforts calculated to disrupt or distract from the issues before the Court and will be cause for sanctions.

CRITICAL

A case may not be tried without both required settlement conferences unless the requirement is waived by motion and court order.

No case may be tried unless it has been through a lawyer’s resolution conference and master-supervised settlement conference as required by these rules. This requirement may be waived only upon motion and order of the

CRITICAL

Before seeking court action on a Rule 26(c) protective-order motion or Rule 37 motion to compel, the movant must confer or attempt to confer in good faith with affected parties.

A motion for a protective order filed under Rule 26(c), M.R.Civ.P. or a motion for an order compelling discovery filed under Rule 37, M.R.Civ.P., shall be accompanied by a certification that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute or to secure the disclosure or discovery without court action. Failure to include the certification or failure to make a good faith effort to confer may result in sanctions as allowed by Rule 26(c) and 37.

CRITICAL

Trial counsel and all parties must attend the master-supervised conference in person; out-of-area corporations and insurers may send a representative in person or by speaker phone unless the Court orders personal attendance for good cause, and all participants must have settlement authority.

Counsel who will try the case and all parties must attend in person. Out-of-area corporations or insurance companies must have a representative present in person or via speaker phone, unless personal attendance is ordered by the Court upon a showing of good cause. All participants must have requisite settlement authority.

CRITICAL

A master-supervised settlement conference must be held before a case proceeds to trial.

No case will proceed to trial unless a master-supervised settlement conference has been held.

CRITICAL

Unless the Court orders otherwise, pretrial motions must be filed before the pretrial order, and the pretrial order must be filed before the master-supervised settlement conference so the motions can be ruled on beforehand.

Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the time set for filing the pretrial order shall be after pretrial motions have been filed but before the master-supervised settlement conference is held pursuant to Rule 9 of these rules. This will allow pretrial motions to be ruled upon prior to the holding of the master-supervised settlement conference.

CRITICAL

Except as provided by statute, each civil case must have a lawyer’s resolution conference and a master-supervised settlement conference before it may be set for trial.

A. Settlement Conferences Required. Except as provided in Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-301, each civil case, there will be two settlement conferences, the holding of which will be required before a case may be set for trial. The first is a lawyer’s resolution conference and the second is a master-supervised settlement conference, both of which are provided for in the Scheduling Order prepared and issued in accordance with Rule 8 of the Local Rules.

CRITICAL

Answer and reply briefs must comply with the schedule in Rule 2(a) of the Uniform District Court Rules.

Filling of answer briefs and reply briefs shall comply with the schedule provided by Rule 2(a) of the Uniform District Court Rules.

CRITICAL

Cases are set for trial upon submission of the settlement master’s report, and a master-supervised conference is required before trial setting unless the Court orders otherwise upon motion and good cause.

Cases will be set for trial upon submission of the settlement master's report. No case will be set for trial without a master-supervised settlement conference unless specifically provided by Court order upon motion and showing of good cause.

WARNING

A lawyer may request a hearing or schedule a discovery appearance without first consulting opposing counsel when waiting for a scheduling agreement could harm the client's case.

Where time associated with scheduling agreements could cause damage or harm to a client's case, then a lawyer is justified in asking for a healing or scheduling a discovery appearance without first consulting with opposing counsel.

WARNING

Assert a scheduling conflict only when the requested time is unavailable, not to obtain an unfair advantage.

Assert a scheduling conflict only if the requested time is not available, not to obtain any unfair advantage.

WARNING

Agreement is not required if opposing counsel delays responding to a proposed time, raises an unreasonable number of conflicts, or repeatedly fails to comply with the scheduling standard.

If opposing counsel fails to promptly accept or reject a time offered for hearing or discovery appearance, raises an unreasonable number of conflicts, or consistently fails to comply with this standard, agreement is not required.

WARNING

The Omnibus Memorandum sets the briefing schedule for your initial brief and the prosecutor’s response, with an optional further response from you.

The Omnibus Memorandum will spell out a briefing schedule, a date for you to file your first brief, for the prosecutor to respond, and for you to file a response to the prosecutor’s response if you want to.

WARNING

A master-supervised settlement conference may be held at any time by stipulation or court order and, unless otherwise agreed, must occur after submission of the pretrial order.

A master-supervised settlement conference may be held at any time upon stipulation of the parties or order of the Court. Unless otherwise agreed, the conference shall be held after submission of the pretrial order.

WARNING

When practical, consult opposing counsel before asking for a hearing and scheduling a discovery appearance in an effort to avoid scheduling conflicts.

When practical, consult opposing counsel before asking for a hearing and scheduling a discovery appearance in an effort to avoid scheduling conflicts.

CRITICAL

All motions must be briefed according to the schedule in Rule 2(a) of the Uniform District Court Rules.

All motions must be filed and shall be briefed in accordance with the schedule provided in Rule 2(a) of the Uniform District Court Rules.