Pondera County District Court, Montana Pre-Motion Conference Requirements

Every civil case must have a settlement conference supervised by a settlement master or mediator and provided for in the scheduling order.

In each civil case, there will be a settlement conference. The conference shall be a master or mediator-supervised settlement conference, which is provided for in the Scheduling Order prepared and issued in accordance with Rule 7 of these Rules.

Before filing a motion under Montana Rules of Civil Procedure 26 through 37, counsel must confer about all disputed issues; if opposing counsel willfully refuses or fails to confer after an effort to arrange it, the judge may order reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees.

The court will deny any motion pursuant to Rules 26 through 37 of the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure, unless counsel shall have conferred concerning all disputed issues before the motion is filed. If counsel for the moving party seeks to arrange such a conference, and opposing counsel willfully refuses or fails to confer, the judge may order the payment of reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, pursuant to Montana Rules of Civil Procedure 37(a)(4).