Section 1240-05-04-.02 - PRE-HEARING CONFERENCE(1) In any action set for hearing the Administrative Judge/Hearing Officer assigned to hear the case, upon his/her own motion or upon motion of one of the parties or their qualified representative, may direct the parties and/or the attorneys for the parties to appear before him/her for a conference to consider: (a) The simplification of issues;(b) The necessity or desirability of amendments to the pleadings;(c) The possibility of obtaining admissions of fact and of documents which will avoid unnecessary proof;(d) The limitation of the number of expert witnesses;(e) Such other matters as may aid in the disposition of the action.(2) The Administrative Judge/Hearing Officer shall make an order which recites the action taken at the conference, the amendments allowed to the pleadings, and the agreements made by the parties as to any of the matters considered, and which limits the issues for hearing to those not disposed of by the admissions or agreements of the parties, and such order when entered controls the subsequent course of the action, unless modified at the hearing to prevent manifest injustice.(3) Upon reasonable notice to all parties, the Administrative Judge/Hearing Officer may convene a hearing or convert a pre-hearing conference to a hearing, to be conducted by the Administrative Judge/Hearing Officer sitting alone, to consider arguments and/or evidence on any question of law. The Administrative Judge/Hearing Officer may render an initial order on the question of law.(4) In the discretion of the Administrative Judge/Hearing Officer, all or part of the pre-hearing conference may be conducted by telephone, television, or other electronic means, if each participant in the conference has an opportunity to participate in and if technically feasible, to see the entire proceeding while it is taking place.(5) If a pre-hearing conference is not held, the Administrative Judge/Hearing Officer for the hearing may issue a pre-hearing order, based on the pleadings, to regulate the conduct of the proceedings.(6) Unless precluded by law, informal disposition may be made of any appealed case by stipulation, agreed settlement, consent order or default.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-05-04-.02
Original rule filed January 19, 1977; effective February 18, 1977. Amendment filed December 17, 1983; effective March 16, 1983.Authority: T.C.A. § 4-5-306.