The Court holds a Status and Scheduling Conference after a Complaint has been answered to discuss future proceedings and possible amendments to the pleadings; to determine an appropriate schedule for the case; to help define the issues in dispute; and, to determine the discovery necessary to address those issues. If there are then outstanding discovery disputes, the Court may enter an order which moots pending motions or negates the necessity of filing a discovery motion over matters then contested. The Court also uses the conference to identify discovery that must precede a motion, in an effort to avoid premature motions.

One settlement conference is set as a matter of course. However, at the request of counsel, the Court will hold additional settlement conferences, and will hold half or full day conferences to facilitate a resolution of the matter.

Joint final pretrial conferences are usually held one to two weeks before trial is scheduled to begin.