27 CAR § 110-701 – Prehearing conference

(a) Purposes. Upon written notice by the State Highway Commission in any proceeding or upon written or oral instruction of an officer, parties or their attorneys may be directed to appear before an officer at a specified time and place for a conference prior to or during the course of a hearing or in lieu of personally appearing to submit suggestions in writing for the purpose of formulating issues and considering:
1. (1) The simplification of issues;
2. (2) The necessity or desirability of amending the pleading either for the purpose of clarification, amplification, or limitation;
3. (3) The possibility of making admissions of certain averments of fact or stipulations concerning the use by either or both parties of matters of public record, such as annual reports and the like, to the end of avoiding the unnecessary introduction of proof;
4. (4) The procedure at the hearing;
5. (5) The limitation of the number of witnesses;
6. (6) The propriety of prior mutual exchange between or among the parties of prepared testimony and exhibits; and
7. (7) Such other matters as may aid in the simplification of the evidence and disposition of the proceeding.
(b) Facts disclosed privileged. Facts disclosed in the course of the prehearing conference are privileged and, except by argument, shall not be used against participating parties either before the commission or elsewhere unless fully substantiated by other evidence.
(c) Recordation and order. Action taken at the conference, including a recitation of the amendments allowed to the pleadings and the agreements made by the parties as to any of the matters considered and defining the issues, shall be recorded in an appropriate order unless the parties enter into a written stipulation as to such matters or agree to a statement thereof made on the record by the officer.
(d) Objections to the order — Subsequent proceedings.
1. (1) If an order is entered, a reasonable time shall be allowed to the parties to present objections on the ground that it does not fully or correctly embody the agreements reached at such conference.
2. (2) Thereafter, the terms of the order or modification thereof and the written stipulation or statement of the officer, as the case may be, shall determine the subsequent course of the proceeding, unless modified to prevent manifest injustice.