What happens during a judicial settlement conference?
• Involvement of Litigants and Their Lawyers: Lawyers and parties on all sides are encouraged to be active participants. By their presence at the settlement conference, lawyers and parties are deemed to be making a good faith effort at resolving the case in controversy. • Collaborative Session: The settlement conference judge may allow an opportunity for both parties to be heard and may use other conflict resolution techniques that are characteristic of mediation. There may be an initial session in which all parties are in the same room. Often the parties segregate immediately after the initial session and do not directly interact. The settlement judge may elect to reconvene the parties later in the process. • Urging Settlement: The settlement conference judge may use a variety of techniques to encourage and shape settlement, including suggesting settlement terms, providing settlement ranges, and directing the parties to appropriate grounds for settlement based on law or industry pract
