Who May Attend a Pre-Trial Conference

[dmac61]

Oklahoma-short and sweet
My attorney has written a letter of demand for return of property stolen from me to a city who now holds it. The city has also claimed ownership and we are in a civil battle over it. I have had a hearing that was held in the Judges office which I was not allowed to attend (my attorney was in there). They decided to go to trial after all the motions, discovery etc.... Well the trial date has been moved again and my attorney now tells me there will be a "Pre-trial conference" held about 2 weeks before the trial and the Judge will probity decide the matter then. I ask him if I would been allowed in this meeting or locked out like before. He told me unless it's in open court I would not be allowed to attend. What! Can they do this? Decide this whole thing behind closed doors without me knowing what is said or not said. Or do I have a right to attend this conference?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Get clarification from your lawyer on exactly what he means. Obviously the hearing is not a trial. He may mean that the judge has ordered the attorneys to appear at a pretrial (a type of scheduling hearing) that is also going to serve as a settlement conference, and that they should have clear settlement authority such that, if possible, the case can be settled at that time. The court may also be indicating that it won't be happy with a party who is unwilling to settle upon reasonable terms at the pretrial hearing. You can also ask if, although not permitted in chambers, you can be present outside of chambers to discuss settlement proposals with your lawyer before anything is finalized. You can also ask if a record will be made of the pretrial.

Read District Court Rule 5 (I'm assuming you're in district court), and note the final subsection about settlement conferences.

[dmac61]

Hello and thanks for replying, I did some research on pre-trial conference and this is normal procedure. The Applicants file their motion yesterday and we filed ours today. You are correct on everything you said but there will only be a transcript of the conference if there is argument. Thanks again for your reply and your accurate information.