Okla. Stat. tit. 85, Rule 54
Prehearing and Pretrial Conferences
Effective Mar 1, 2002Adopted by order of the Supreme Court, 1997 OK 130 , eff. November 1, 1997; Amended by order of the Supreme Court, 2000 OK 13 , eff. April 15, 2000; Amended by order of the Supreme Court, 2002 OK 6, eff. March 1, 2002.
- A. Any party who has previously filed a Motion to Set for Trial may request a Prehearing Conference before the assigned trial judge.
- B. The assigned trial judge shall set the Prehearing Conference no later than forty-five (45) days after the filing of the Motion to Set for Trial.
- C. Nothing in this rule shall limit a party's right to request a Pretrial Conference with the trial judge at the time of trial.
- D. The Court, in its discretion, may order the appearance of any party or counsel at any Prehearing, Pretrial, or Judicial Settlement Conference before a settlement conference judge pursuant to Rule 38A. Nothing in this rule shall limit the authority of a judge of the Workers' Compensation Court to order a Prehearing, Pretrial or Settlement Conference.
- E. The Court, in its discretion, in order to assist in the efficient management of the dockets, may establish additional Pretrial dockets. Except for judicial settlement conferences, all Pretrial dockets shall be governed by the rules pertaining to a Prehearing Conference.
F. Failure to appear at a conference, appearance at a conference substantially unprepared or failure to participate in good faith may result in any of the following sanctions:
- 1. the striking of the hearing;
- 2. holding the proceeding in abeyance;
- 3. an order entered by default;
- 4. assessment of expenses and fees (either against a party or the attorney individually); or
- 5. such other order as the Court may deem just and appropriate.
- G. If during the Prehearing Conference, the trial judge finds the party seeking the Prehearing Conference has done so in an effort to delay, harass or increase costs, the judge shall assess all costs and attorney fees for such conference against the party requesting the conference.
- H. All regularly scheduled conferences with the Court shall be governed by the Prehearing Conference rules of procedure as set out herein.
- I. If any party requests a prehearing conference, that party must certify, on the request for prehearing conference, that the parties have conferred or attempted to confer in good faith, but sincere efforts to resolve the issue have been unavailing.
Adopted by order of the Supreme Court,