procedural guides

LA Court begins Mandatory Settlement Conference Pilot for Personal Injury Cases

May 1, 2017 ushered in a significant notice for attorneys involved with personal injury cases in.

Selected personal injury cases heard in Departments 91 and 97 at Los Angeles Superior Court’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse will be ordered to a mandatory settlement conference. The order will come at the final status conference.

The Mandatory Settlement Conference (MSC) will be held after the Final Status Conference (FSC) and before the trial date.

The Mandatory Settlement Conferences will be scheduled at either 9:30 a.m. PST or 1:30 p.m. PST on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays and will be held at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse 9th Floor Conference room

Each Mandatory Settlement Conference will be supervised by the judge who made the order and staffed segment attorneys from the following organizations:

American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)

Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC)

Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA)

A mandatory settlement conference is scheduled along with a trial date and is a meeting wherein all parties in a case have a meeting to examine all avenues which could lead to settlement. The word “mandatory” is key as failing to appear may result in significant expenses including paying counsel fees and the portions of the opposing party’s expenses.

To view the SmartRules guide for Settlement Conferences in Los Angeles Superior Court, visit SmartRules.

The original notice can be found on the court’s website.