Trial Practice
Pretrial
Rule 16(e) provides for a final pretrial conference to formulate a trial plan. The resulting pretrial order controls the course of trial and may be modified only to prevent manifest injustice.
Attendance by trial counsel is typically required.
Alternative Names:
Final Pretrial Conference, Trial Conference
Why it Matters?
The manifest injustice standard for modifying the pretrial order is what makes preparation for this conference consequential, since a witness or exhibit omitted from the order is generally excluded and the standard for adding one is substantially higher than ordinary good cause. Reviewing the order against the trial plan before it enters, rather than after, is the only reliable protection.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How difficult is modifying the pretrial order?
What preparation matters most?
