[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR1025.21]

[Page 75-76]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
             CHAPTER II--CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
 
PART 1025--RULES OF PRACTICE FOR ADJUDICATIVE PROCEEDINGS--Table of Contents
 
   Subpart C--Prehearing Procedures, Motions, Interlocutory Appeals, 
                     Summary Judgments, Settlements
 
Sec.  1025.21  Prehearing conferences.


    (a) When held. Except when the presiding officer determines that 
unusual circumstances would render it impractical or valueless, a 
prehearing conference shall be held in person or by conference telephone 
call within fifty (50) days after publication of the complaint in the 
Federal Register and upon ten (10) days' notice to all parties and 
participants. At the prehearing conference any or all of the following 
shall be considered:

[[Page 76]]

    (1) Petitions for leave to intervene;
    (2) Motions, including motions for consolidation of proceedings and 
for certification of class actions;
    (3) Identification, simplification and clarification of the issues;
    (4) Necessity or desirability of amending the pleadings;
    (5) Stipulations and admissions of fact and of the content and 
authenticity of documents;
    (6) Oppositions to notices of depositions;
    (7) Motions for protective orders to limit or modify discovery;
    (8) Issuance of subpoenas to compel the appearance of witnesses and 
the production of documents;
    (9) Limitation of the number of witnesses, particularly to avoid 
duplicate expert witnesses;
    (10) Matters of which official notice should be taken and matters 
which may be resolved by reliance upon the laws administered by the 
Commission or upon the Commission's substantive standards, regulations, 
and consumer product safety rules;
    (11) Disclosure of the names of witnesses and of documents or other 
physical exhibits which are intended to be introduced into evidence;
    (12) Consideration of offers of settlement;
    (13) Establishment of a schedule for the exchange of final witness 
lists, prepared testimony and documents, and for the date, time and 
place of the hearing, with due regard to the convenience of the parties; 
and
    (14) Such other matters as may aid in the efficient presentation or 
disposition of the proceedings.
    (b) Public notice. The Presiding Officer shall cause a notice of the 
first prehearing conference, including a statement of the issues, to be 
published in the Federal Register at least ten (10) days prior to the 
date scheduled for the conference.
    (c) Additional conferences. Additional prehearing conferences may be 
convened at the discretion of the Presiding Officer, upon notice to the 
parties, any participants, and to the public.
    (d) Reporting. Prehearing conferences shall be stenographically 
reported as provided in Sec.  1025.47 of these rules and shall be open 
to the public, unless otherwise ordered by the Presiding Officer or the 
Commission.
    (e) Prehearing orders. The Presiding Officer shall issue a final 
prehearing order in each case after the conclusion of the final 
prehearing conference. The final prehearing order should contain, to the 
fullest extent possible at that time, all information which is necessary 
for controlling the course of the hearing. The Presiding Officer may 
require the parties to submit a jointly proposed final prehearing order, 
such as in the format set forth in appendix I.