La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 1551 — LA Code / Code code-of-civil-procedure / Article 1551
Pretrial and scheduling conference; order
Status: in_force

A. In any civil action in a district court, the court may, in its discretion, direct the attorneys for the parties to appear before it for conferences that may be conducted in chambers, by telephone, or by video teleconference to consider any of the following:

(1) The setting of deadlines for the filing of a motion in accordance with Article 1425(F), motion for summary judgment, motion in limine, and any other pretrial motion.

(2) The setting of the trial and the deadline for the filing of any jury bond.

(3) The necessity or desirability of, and the deadline for filing, any amendments to the pleadings.

(4) The simplification of the issues, including stipulations as to material facts, exhibits, and issues that are not disputed, and a determination of the facts, exhibits, and issues to be tried.

(5) The authenticity and admissibility of exhibits that a party intends to introduce at trial, including a pretrial ruling on the admissibility of exhibits or the setting of a hearing date as to the admissibility of exhibits.

(a) If a party has reasonable suspicion that an opposing party's exhibits are falsified, including having been generated by artificial intelligence or altered by any means, the party shall raise these concerns at the pretrial conference or at a pretrial hearing on the admissibility of the exhibits.

(b) If a party knows or has reason to know that its exhibits have been falsified, including having been generated by artificial intelligence or altered by any means, the party shall disclose this fact in accordance with Article 371.

(c) Subsubparagraphs (a) and (b) of this Subparagraph shall not apply to demonstrative exhibits.

(6) Limitations or restrictions on or regulation of the use of expert testimony pursuant to Code of Evidence Article 702.

(7) The control and scheduling of discovery including any issues relating to disclosure or discovery of electronically stored information, and the form or forms in which it should be produced.

(8) Any issues relating to claims of privilege or protection of trial preparation material, and whether the court should include agreements between counsel relating to those issues in an order.

(9) The identification of witnesses, documents, and exhibits.

(10) The setting of any trial, motion, or exception hearing by audiovisual means, or the presentation of any evidence or testimony by audiovisual means, in accordance with Article 195.1.

(11) Other matters that may aid in the disposition of the action.

B. The court shall render an order that recites the action taken at the conference pursuant to Paragraph A of this Article. The order shall control the subsequent course of the action, unless modified by the court to prevent manifest injustice.

C. If a party's attorney fails to obey a pretrial order, or to appear at the pretrial and scheduling conference, or is substantially unprepared to participate in the conference or fails to participate in good faith, the court, on its own motion or on the motion of a party, after hearing, may make orders as are just, including orders provided in Article 1471(A)(2), (3), and (4). In lieu of or in addition to any other sanction, the court may require the party or the attorney representing the party or both to pay the reasonable expenses incurred by noncompliance with this Paragraph, including attorney fees.

D. If a suit has been pending for more than one year since the date of service of the original petition on all defendants and no trial date has been assigned, upon motion of any party, the court shall set the matter for conference for the purpose of resolving all matters subject to the provisions of this Article, including the scheduling of discovery, assignment for trial, and any other matters that will expedite the resolution of the suit.

Acts 1997, No. 1056, §1; Acts 2008, No. 824, §3, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2018, No. 254, §1; Acts 2025, No. 250, §3.