In many court systems in the United States, a case conference may be issued to help reach a settlement of a legal dispute. A case conference is similar to a settlement conference in that it is a form of mediation that aims at reaching a resolution without the inclusion of a judge or a court setting.
A case conference is typically administered or mandated for one of two reasons: either to reach a settlement outside of the legal system or to act as a preliminary trial so the actual case is streamlined with through the delivery of all evidence and information associated with the trial.
In some courts, the rules associated with a case conference require that before certain types of petitions or motions are heard by the judge, the opposing lawyers of the dispute must meet and confer in a case conference to resolve or facilitate a resolution for the legal dispute.
