Riverside Superior Court Pre-Motion Conference Requirements

CRITICAL

Failure to comply with the MSC rules may result in an Order to Show Cause and sanctions of up to $1500, jointly and severally against counsel and parties.

Failure to comply with these rules relating to Mandatory Settlement Conferences will result in issuance of an Order to Show Cause re sanctions; sanctions of up to $1500 may issue, jointly and severally as against counsel and parties.

CRITICAL

A person attending the MSC on behalf of a non-natural-person party must have full authority to settle all claims asserted by or against that party.

If the party is not a natural person, the person attending on behalf of a party shall come with full authority to settle all claims being asserted by that party or against that party. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1380(b).)

CRITICAL

No attorney, party, or insurance claims professional may leave the MSC until excused by the Court.

No attorney, party, or insurance claims professional shall leave the MSC until he or she is excused by the Court.

CRITICAL

The court cannot advance a hearing date or shorten time to hear a motion, via ex parte application, or otherwise, unless that motion has already been filed with the court and a hearing date set. A party desiring an order shortening time on a motion should not bring an ex parte application for such an order until that party has first (1) reserved a hearing date for the motion (2) paid the appropriate filing fee or obtained a fee waiver and (3) filed the motion.

The court cannot advance a hearing date or shorten time to hear a motion, via ex parte application, or otherwise, unless that motion has already been filed with the court and a hearing date set. A party desiring an order shortening time on a motion should not bring an ex parte application for such an order until that party has first (1) reserved a hearing date for the motion (2) paid the appropriate filing fee or obtained a fee waiver and (3) filed the motion.

CRITICALCivil cases

Parties must meet and confer before and after filing motions in limine; failing to do so may result in the Court declining to consider the motions or an OSC re sanctions.

Before and after filing motions in limine, the parties shall meet and confer in an effort to reach stipulations resolving disputes over the admissibility of evidence and limit the contested motions in limine to a manageable number for the court to decide. ... Failure to meet certain rules prior to filing motions in limine may result in the court declining to consider motions in limine, an OSC re sanctions, or both.

CRITICAL

The handling insurance claims professional for every insurer must appear in person at the MSC with full authority to settle all claims against the insured.

Unless his or her appearance is excused in advance in writing, the handling insurance claims professional for every insurer insuring any party shall appear in person, and shall come with full authority to settle all claims against the insured. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1380(b).) "Full authority to settle" means the authority of the person present to bind the insurer (a) to pay an amount equal either to the sum of the claimants' settlement demands against the insured or to the policy limits, whichever is less (b) without consulting anyone not personally present at the settlement conference.

CRITICAL

Principal trial counsel for every party must appear at the Mandatory Settlement Conference via Zoom unless excused in advance in writing by the Court.

Unless an attorney's appearance is excused in advance in writing by the Court, the principal trial counsel for every party -- including all plaintiffs, cross-complainants, and plaintiffs in intervention -- shall appear at the MSC via Zoom, per the instructions of the hearing officer, unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

CRITICAL

Parties must meet and confer before filing a motion in limine; the Court will not consider motions in limine absent an indication of a meet and confer.

Discuss each proposed motion in limine to determine whether the relief sought is opposed, and if so, whether the parties can agree to a resolution. Riverside Local Rule 3401 (3)(d). The Court will not consider motions in limine absent an indication of a meet and confer before filing the motion in limine.

CRITICAL

Before filing a fees motion, parties must meet and confer in person or by telephone to resolve fee disputes and request an Informal Fees Conference.

d. parties shall meet and confer in person or by telephone to resolve attorney’s fee disputes and request an Informal Fees Conference (“IFC”) before filing a fees motion.

CRITICAL

Before filing a discovery motion, parties must meet and confer; if unresolved, they must request an IDC by email and copy all parties.

2.5 Discovery Motions Before filing a discovery motion: a. The parties must meet and confer in person, by telephone, or by videoconference. b. If the dispute remains unresolved, the parties must request an Informal Discovery Conference (“IDC”) by emailing DeptM302@riverside.courts.ca.gov and copying all parties.

CRITICAL

Requests to shorten time or advance a hearing date are considered only after the underlying motion is filed, a hearing date is reserved or set, and the fee is paid or waived.

1.3 Requests to shorten time or advance a hearing date will not be considered unless: (a) the underlying motion has been filed; (b) a hearing date has been reserved or set; and (c) the applicable filing fee has been paid, or a fee waiver has been granted.

CRITICAL

Before pursuing a discovery motion, parties must meet and confer and, if unresolved, request an IDC; a joint brief of no more than three pages is due three court days before the IDC, and failure to first seek an IDC may result in denial of sanctions.

Discovery Motions: o Parties must first meet and confer (by phone, in person, or video). *Note this is different than the Code of Civil Procedure o If unresolved, request an Informal Discovery Conference (IDC) by emailing DeptM301@riverside.courts.ca.gov (cc all parties). o File a joint IDC brief (3 pages max) three court days before the IDC. o Discovery motions filed without first seeking an IDC may result in denial of sanctions.

WARNING

After repeated discovery-order violations, the Court may order a mandatory informal discovery conference and may prohibit filing discovery motions without leave of court or prior IDC participation.

The Court may also order the parties to participate in a mandatory IDC if it finds repeated failures to comply with Court orders relating to discovery; in that case the Court may prohibit parties from filing discovery motions without leave of Court or without having first participated in an IDC.

WARNING

An informal discovery conference request must be jointly submitted by all counsel and must include the specific disputed discovery issues, a meet-and-confer explanation, and contact information for participating counsel.

request must be jointly submitted by ALL counsel, and must contain ALL of the following information: • The specific discovery issues to be resolved broken down categorically (by type and nature of information sought), with a brief description of each party’s position on the disputed issue, no more than 1.5 pages per side. • A detailed explanation of the party’s efforts to meet and confer and resolve all disputed issues, no more than 1.5 pages. • Contact information for all counsel who will be participating in the discovery conference, including email address and telephone