Pretrial Conference (Noun)
Meaning
(law) a conference held before the trial begins to bring the parties together to outline discovery proceedings and to define the issues to be tried; more useful in civil than in criminal cases.
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The pretrial conference brought the defendant's lawyers and the plaintiff's lawyers together to decide on a discovery schedule and settlement options.
- During the pretrial conference, the court encouraged both sides to settle the case out of court and avoid a lengthy trial.
- A pretrial conference was scheduled in the patent infringement case to establish guidelines for the evidentiary proceedings and develop a timeline for key witness depositions.
- Pretrial conferences can streamline the discovery process by narrowing down the number of expert witnesses and their respective subject matter.
- The pretrial conference took place via video conference, where the judge resolved several pending motions and outlined the trial's outline and objectives.