Family Court Rules 2002, rule 416X
An issues conference will be held early on in your case. At an issues conference, the judge will meet with both of you and identify exactly what the issues are. The judge will then decide how your case should best be dealt with.
The judge will speak to you directly to find out what the key disagreements are.
At the end of the conference, the judge will decide that the case will go either to a settlement conference (see below) or to a final court hearing.