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Rule 305.02 – Pretrial Conference Attendance

May 13, 2021 | Family Law, Minnesota

(a) Parties and Counsel. Unless excused by the court for good cause, the parties and lawyers who will try the proceedings shall attend the pretrial conference, prepared to negotiate a final settlement. The lawyers attending the pretrial conference must have authority to settle the case. If a stipulation is reduced to writing prior to the pretrial conference, the case may be heard administratively or as a default at the time scheduled for the conference. In the event the matter will proceed as a default, then only the party obtaining the decree need appear.
(b) Failure to Appear-Sanctions. If a party fails to appear at a pretrial conference, the court may dispose of the proceedings without further notice to that party.
(c) Failure to Comply-Sanctions. Failure to comply with the rules relating to pretrial conferences may result in the case being stricken from the contested calendar, granting of partial relief to the appearing party, striking of the nonappearing party’s pleadings and the hearing of the matter as a default, award of attorney fees and costs, and such other relief as the court finds appropriate, without further notice to the defaulting party

Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 305.02

Amended effective May 1, 2012.

Family Court Rules Advisory Committee Commentary*

In disposing of a proceeding, the Court may dismiss it entirely, grant relief to the party appearing, grant attorney fees, bifurcate the proceedings and grant partial relief, or grant any other relief which the court may deem appropriate. See Rule 306.2(c).

Original Advisory Committee Comment-Not kept current.

Task Force Comment-1991 Adoption

Subsection (a) of this rule is derived from existing Rule 4.03 of the Rules of Family Court Procedure.

Subsection (b) of this rule is derived from existing Rule 4.04 of the Rules of Family Court Procedure.

Subsection (c) of this rule is derived from existing Rule 4.05 of the Rules of Family Court Procedure.

A prehearing conference without both parties and lawyers familiar with the facts of the case and the parties is rarely a worthwhile exercise and usually is a waste of resources of the parties and the court. Nonetheless, the Task Force believes there may be situations, on rare occasion, where a party or lawyer should be excused from attendance or should be allowed to participate by conference phone call.

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