Sentence:  The first pretrial conference - held to appoint <WSD>amici</WSD> curiae to represent the interest of the stockholders of du Pont and General Motors and to consider the procedure to be followed in the subsequent hearings - took place on September 25 , 1957 . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  an adviser to the court on some matter of law who is not a party to the case; usually someone who wants to influence the outcome of a lawsuit involving matters of wide public interest