Civil Litigation-Pretrial and Trial
After the conclusion of the discovery process, there may be a pretrial conference with a judge. The purpose of that pretrial conference is to identify the remaining issues that need to be decided and to attempt to resolve any outstanding legal issues prior to the trial. In addition, some courts conduct what are referred to as settlement conferences. These conferences may be conducted by neutral mediators and are designed simply to allow the parties to come together in an informal setting to discuss settlement. Those settlement discussions are generally confidential and if the case does not settle, anything said during those settlement conferences cannot be used against the other party.
If the case is not settled it will be scheduled for trial. It may be tried either before a judge or a jury. Juries are picked from the general population of that city, county, or jurisdiction where the court sits. Every state has different rules as to exactly how juries are chosen, but typically they are chosen from the voter registration rolls and property ownership rolls of that jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, they may also be drawn from the Department of Motor Vehicle rolls identifying persons who have drivers’ licenses.
