1. (1) In all actions and proceedings to which this section of the rules is applicable, a preliminary conference shall be ordered by the court to be held within 45 days after the request for judicial intervention is filed.

2. (2) At the preliminary conference, the court shall designate the track to which the case shall be assigned in accordance with the following:

   1. (i) expedited—discovery to be completed within eight months;
   2. (ii) standard—discovery to be completed within 12 months; and
   3. (iii) complex—discovery to be completed within 15 months. The timeframes must be complied with unless otherwise shortened or extended by the court depending upon the circumstances of the case.

3. (3) No later than 60 days before the date fixed for completion of discovery, a compliance conference shall be held to monitor the progress of discovery, explore potential settlement, and set a deadline for the filing of the note of issue.

   (c) Pretrial conference.

4. (1) A pretrial conference shall be held within 180 days of the filing of the note of issue.
5. (2) At the pretrial conference, the court shall fix a date for the commencement of trial, which shall be no later than eight weeks after the date of the conference.

(a) Applicability.

This section shall apply to such categories of cases designated by the Chief Administrator of the Courts as being subject to differentiated case management, and shall be implemented in such counties, courts or parts of courts as designated by the Chief Administrator. The provisions of section 202.12 of this Part, relating to the preliminary conference, and section 202.26 of this Part, relating to the pretrial conference, shall apply to the extent not inconsistent with this section.

(b) Preliminary conference.