Goncalves v WSU Rule 16 Pre-Trial Conference

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the ND Zone. My name is Kathy. There has been a hearing, the first one in the case, scheduled for June 1st, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in Gonsalves et al. versus Washington State University. Public access is permitted at this virtual hearing. This has been docketed as a case management conference. What is typically or can be expected to be addressed during a case management conference? Well, in order to delve into that issue, it is imperative to consult with the procedural rule that is applicable here. We have encouraged you in this case because it's in federal court to look at the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The rule at issue here is Federal Rule Civil Procedure 16.

[00:01:05]It is entitled Pretrial Conferences, Scheduling, Management.

[00:01:10]Rule 16A is entitled Purposes of a pretrial conference, and it states, "In any action, the court may order the attorneys and any unrepresented parties to appear for one or more pretrial conferences for such purposes as subsection one, Expediting disposition of this action.

[00:01:36]Two, Establishing early and continuing control so that the case will not be protracted because of lack of management.

[00:01:48]Three, Discouraging wasteful pretrial activities.

[00:01:55]Four, Improving the quality of the trial through more thorough preparation. And five, facilitating settlement.

[00:02:06]Now, we know that this is a pretrial conference because trial has not yet happened in this case.

[00:02:15]It's still in the relatively early stages because the the joint scheduling report was just filed on Tuesday of this week.

[00:02:25]And then we see further support that this is a rule 16 pretrial in the next section, rule 16 subsection B, entitled scheduling and management. And then further subsection one, scheduling order. Except in categories of actions exempted by local rule, the district judge or a magistrate judge when authorized by local rule must issue a scheduling order.

[00:02:57]A, after receiving the parties report under rule 26 F. And ladies and gentlemen, that is exactly what happened on Tuesday of this week. The parties filed their joint scheduling report, which indicated important information from the parties as to their view of the case, its complexity, and also relating proposed deadlines for such important events as discovery cutoff. When is the last possible time that depositions are to happen, that interrogatories may be propounded, when admissions, when requests for production of documents can be served. All of these are governed by other federal rules of civil procedure. So, there we see now that the joint scheduling report has been submitted the scheduling order is what will happen next. So, that is another matter that may be discussed at this hearing on June 1st. We will continue to keep you posted as further developments arise.

[00:04:21]Until next time, this is Cathy.

[00:04:24]Thank you for joining us here today.