a. Scheduling a pretrial conference; required appearance; penalties. The court may set a pretrial conference at any time after the parties have had an adequate opportunity to exchange disclosure statements.

The parties must attend a pretrial conference in person, unless the court for a good reason allows a party to appear by telephone. The court may impose a penalty provided under Rule 127(d) against a party for a failure to appear at the pretrial conference or for other violations of this rule.

The court may rule on a pending motion before the pretrial conference, and the court will vacate the pretrial conference if the result of the court's ruling on the motion is either a judgment or a dismissal. Otherwise, a pending motion will not vacate a pretrial conference. [ARCP 16(a), (f)]

b. Purpose of a pretrial conference. At a pretrial conference, the parties and the court may discuss (1) the status of the lawsuit, including whether the parties served disclosure statements; (2) whether there is any further possibility of settlement; (3) whether the parties are engaging or intend to engage in the use of discovery under Rules 123 through 126; and (4) a date for trial. If discovery is complete or nearly complete, the parties should be prepared to advise the court if they intend to file any motions; the number of witnesses they will call at trial; and how much time they will need for presenting their case at trial. In addition to setting a lawsuit for trial, the court may enter orders at the pretrial conference that will promote an efficient resolution of the lawsuit, including matters concerning electronically stored information and limitations on discovery. [ARCP 16(b)]

c. Settlement conference with the trial judge. A judge who will hear the lawsuit may conduct a settlement conference, but if appropriate, the judge must advise the parties that during a settlement conference, the judge may meet with the parties separately, or the judge may receive information from a party that would not be admissible at a subsequent trial. If the parties then agree, the judge may proceed to conduct the settlement conference. [ARCP 16.1]

d. Good faith settlement hearing. In a case where it is alleged that two or more parties are joint tortfeasors, a judge upon motion of a party must determine whether a settlement was entered into in good faith. The motion must advise the judge of the terms of the settlement, and set forth the reasons why the settlement is or is not entered into in good faith. A party may respond to the motion within the time provided by Rule 128. The judge may conduct an evidentiary hearing on the motion. [ARCP 16.2]