Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 45, November 9, 2024
Section 89.74 - Authority of hearing committee member or special master at conferences(a)General rule. The senior or experienced hearing committee member presiding at any conference may dispose of by ruling, irrespective of the consent of the participants, any procedural matters which the chair of the committee is authorized to rule upon during the course of the proceeding, and which it appears may appropriately and usefully be disposed of at that stage. Where it appears that the proceeding would be substantially expedited by distribution of proposed exhibits and written prepared testimony reasonably in advance of the hearing session, such advance distribution by a prescribed date may be directed at the discretion of the presiding hearing committee member. The presiding hearing committee member may also order the exchange of the names and addresses of expert witnesses and copies of all expert reports. An order for the distribution of exhibits and written testimony or the identification of expert witnesses and exchange of expert reports shall be made with due regard for the convenience and necessity of the respondent-attorney and staff counsel, and may provide that failure to comply with it shall have the consequences described in § 89.93(c) (relating to exclusion of evidence). The rulings of the presiding hearing committee member made at a conference shall control the subsequent course of the hearing, unless modified for good cause shown.(b)Special masters. A special master may exercise at a conference all of the powers granted to a presiding hearing committee member by subsection (a).The provisions of this §89.74 amended November 14 and 17, 1989 and December 6 and 20, 1989, effective 4/14/1990, 20 Pa.B. 2009; amended August 18, 1995, effective immediately, 25 Pa.B. 3335; amended March 11, 2005, effective immediately, 35 Pa.B. 1656.