Rule 610
Pre-Trial Conference and Pre-Trial Order
A Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner may order the
parties to appear at a pre-trial conference to determine specific matters.
This conference may be conducted at such place and by such method as the
Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner deems appropriate, including conference
telephone calls.
Any party may request a pre-trial conference when that
party deems that such a conference would aid in settling the case or
resolving some issues prior to trial. Requests for such pre-trial
conferences shall be directed to the Deputy Commissioner before whom the
claim has been calendared, or to the Team Coordinator for the geographical
area, if any.
A Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner may issue a Pre-Trial Order requiring the parties to submit a Pre-Trial Agreement. The parties shall have 15 days following the hearing within which to schedule the taking of medical depositions unless otherwise extended by the Commission.
If not specified in the Pre-Trial Agreement, the parties shall file with the Deputy Commissioner within 15 days following the trial a list specifically identifying all expert witnesses to be deposed and the dates of their depositions.
Within ten days after each expert witness deposition, defendants’ counsel shall submit to the Deputy Commissioner, via email, a request to approve such expert’s fee. In these requests, counsel shall provide to the Deputy Commissioner, in a cover letter along with the invoice (if provided to counsel), the following: (1) the name of the expert deposed; (2) his/her practice’s name; (3) his/her fax number; (4) his/her area of specialty and board certifications, if any; and (5) the exact length of the deposition and the length of time the expert spent preparing for the deposition. Counsel shall submit a proposed Order that shows the expert’s name, practice name and fax number under the “Appearances” section. Failure to make prompt payment to an expert witness following the entry of a fee order will result in the assessment of a 10 percent penalty.
Pre-Trial Agreement shall be prepared in a form which substantially complies with the Order on Final Pre-Trial Conference adopted in the North Carolina Rules of Practice for the Superior and District Courts. Should the parties fail to comply with a Pre-Trial Order, the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner may remove the case from the hearing docket. Should the parties thereafter comply with the Pre-Trial Order after the removal of the case, the Pre-Trial Agreement must be directed to the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner who removed the case from the docket; and the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner will order the case returned to the hearing docket as if a Request for Hearing had been filed on the date of the Order to return the case to the hearing docket. No new Form 33 Request for Hearing is required.
Go to Workers' Compensation Rules Page