Status conferences commonly result in appearances by ten, twenty or
thirty lawyers or more. Special procedures must be used to effectively conduct a status
conference involving so many lawyers:
1. Don't waste time by having all counsel report their appearances for the
record. Either have all counsel sign an attendance sheet and make it part of the case
file, or require all counsel to turn in cards to the Clerk, so that the names of those
appearing can be listed on the minute order;
2. Identify all named parties who are not present at the status conference
and determine whether they have been given notice;
3. If you have been able to identify the case as a complex construction
defect case prior to the initial status conference, you can order the parties to meet and
confer and file a joint statement setting forth which parties have appeared, which have
not, the state of pleadings, whether any discovery has been commenced, and other
information showing the status of the case;
4. Some judges conduct all status conferences on the record so that a
transcript of the proceedings will be available for future use if necessary; other judges
prefer to put on the record only the orders that are made;
5. Every lawyer should be required to sate his or her name and the name of
the party he or she represents, each time he or she speaks during the status conference,
so that the court reporter can identify the speaker;
6. One of the lead parties in the case should be ordered to maintain and
keep updated a service list showing the addresses of record for all parties, and each
paper filed in the case should be served on all parties on the master list.
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