Rule 316 - Pretrial Procedure - Disclosure and Conference(a) Disclosure Statement.(1) At any time after the answer is filed but no later than 21 days before trial, a party may request from an opposing party a list of witnesses who may be called at trial, and copies of documents and pictures, and a description of physical evidence which may be used at trial. Such request shall be made by serving pursuant to C.R.C.P. 305 a blank disclosure statement, which shall be in the form and content of Appendix to Chapter 25, Form 9, on the opposing party and shall be accompanied by the requesting party's properly completed Form 9 and its attachments. The opposing party shall serve pursuant to C.R.C.P. 305 a completed Form 9 with attachments on the requesting party within 21 days after service but not less than 7 days before trial. The court may shorten or extend that time. A party may not supplement the disclosure statement except for good cause. (2) The court may order the parties to exchange and file Form 9 disclosure statements at any time before trial. (3) Any party failing to respond in good faith to a Form 9 request or court order under this subsection (a) shall be subject to imposition of appropriate sanctions at the time of trial. (b) Pretrial Conferences. Prior to trial, the court may in its discretion and upon reasonable notice order a pretrial conference. Conferences by telephone are encouraged. Following a pretrial conference, the court may issue an order which may include limitations on the issues to be raised and the witnesses and exhibits to be allowed at trial, entry of judgment, or dismissal, if appropriate. Failure to appear at a pretrial conference may result in appropriate sanctions, including an award of attorney's fees and expenses incurred by the appearing party. (c) Pretrial Discovery. If a pretrial conference is held, any party may request that discovery be permitted to assist in the preparation for trial. The request shall be made only during the conference. The discovery may include depositions, requests for admission, interrogatories, physical or mental examinations, or requests for production or inspection. If the court enters a discovery order, it shall set forth the extent and terms of the discovery as well as the time for compliance. If the court fails to specify any term, then the provisions of C.R.C.P. 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 shall be followed as to the missing term. (d) Resolution of Disputes. All issues regarding discovery shall be resolved during the conference. No party shall be entitled to seek protective orders following the conference. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, a dispute over compliance with the discovery order shall be resolved at the time of trial, and the court may impose appropriate sanctions, including attorney's fees and costs, against the non-complying party. (e) Juror Notebooks. The court may order the use of juror notebooks. If notebooks are to be used, counsel for each party shall confer about items to be included in juror notebooks and at the pretrial conference or other date set by the court make a joint submission to the court of items to be included in the juror notebook. Entire rule added May 30, 1991, effective 9/1/1991. (e) added and adopted June 25, 1998, effective 1/1/1999; (a)(1) and (a)(3) amended and effective 6/28/2007; (a)(1) amended and adopted December 14, 2011, effective 1/1/2012, for all cases pending on or filed on or after 1/1/2012, pursuant to C.R.C.P. 1(b).COMMITTEE COMMENT
Subsection (a) provides for the disclosure of a list of witnesses and copies of exhibits through the use of a form Disclosure Statement in simple cases. This rule also sets forth the procedure for pretrial conferences. A simplified form of discovery has been developed for the exceptional case warranting the expense of discovery due to the increased jurisdictional limit of the county court and is available only when there is a pretrial conference. The procedure is designed to provide discovery which is tailored to the particular needs of the parties. In order to avoid disputes arising from discovery, all matters should be resolved by the court at the time of the conference.
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