California Rules of Court 3.724: Meet-and-Confer Deadline and Topics

California Rules of Court 3.724 requires every party in a general civil case to meet and confer at least 30 calendar days before the initial case management conference, and to work through a specific agenda that runs from discovery scheduling to the handling of electronically stored information.¹ The meeting can happen in person or by telephone. The point is to make the parties talk before they file anything with the court, so each side arrives at the conference with a real position on how the case should be managed.

The 30-Day Deadline

Unless the court orders otherwise, the meet and confer must take place no later than 30 calendar days before the date set for the initial case management conference.¹ Count backward from the conference date on your calendar and set the meeting at least a few days earlier than the deadline itself, because you still need time afterward to prepare and file your Case Management Statement, which is due 15 calendar days before the conference under CRC 3.725.

The rule applies to every general civil case where the court sets a case management conference. CRC 3.720 allows individual courts to exempt specific case types by local rule when they have alternative processing procedures in place, so check your local rules if your matter is in a specialized program such as complex litigation or a probate department.²

Topics You Must Cover

CRC 3.724 lists the subjects the parties have to discuss. The rule requires you to work through everything the court will take up at the conference under CRC 3.727, plus several items specific to the meet and confer itself.¹

Resolving any existing discovery disputes and setting a schedule for the discovery that still needs to be done.
Identifying motions either side anticipates filing, and trying to informally resolve the underlying issues first.
Identifying facts and legal issues that are not in dispute, which can become the basis for stipulations.
Identifying facts and issues that are in dispute, so the court can focus on real disagreements.
Discussing whether any claims or defenses can be eliminated by motion or agreement.
Discussing whether settlement is possible at this stage.
Identifying dates when the parties and counsel will be unavailable for trial, with reasons.
Working through the electronic discovery topics listed in the rule.
Covering any other subject the court will consider at the conference under CRC 3.727.

This is not a casual check-in. Each item on the list calls for a position, and the parties are expected to actually negotiate rather than paper over disagreements for later.

Electronically Stored Information

The rule devotes its own subdivision to electronic discovery. During the meet and confer, the parties must discuss all of the following:¹

How discoverable electronic information will be preserved so it is not lost or destroyed.
The form or forms in which electronic information will be produced, such as native files, PDFs, or TIFF images.
When the electronic information will be produced.
How broadly electronic discovery will extend, including custodians, date ranges, and search terms.
The method for asserting privilege claims, including whether a party can claw back inadvertently produced privileged documents.
How to handle information involving trade secrets, proprietary data, or non-party privacy interests.
How the cost of producing electronically stored information will be allocated among the parties.

If your case has any volume of digital records, this piece alone can take serious preparation. Showing up without a position on preservation, format, search scope, or cost allocation usually means the other side’s proposal becomes the starting point when the court sets its discovery order.

How 3.724 Connects to the CM-110 Case Management Statement

CRC 3.724 is the meet-and-confer rule. The written statement that follows is governed by CRC 3.725, which requires each party to file and serve a Case Management Statement on Judicial Council form CM-110 at least 15 calendar days before the conference.³ Two or more parties may file a joint statement instead of separate ones, which can make sense when co-defendants share the same position.

The two rules work in sequence. You hold the meet and confer under 3.724, then report the results and the status of the case to the court on the CM-110 under 3.725. Many of the topics on the form mirror the agenda from 3.724 directly, including discovery status, anticipated motions, settlement posture, trial estimate, expert witness plans, and ADR. That overlap is deliberate: the court wants to see that the parties actually talked, and the form is where you prove it.

Because of that overlap, people searching for “CRC 3.724” are often looking for information about the CM-110 statement itself. If that’s you, the short version is that the statement must be submitted on the mandatory Judicial Council form, every applicable section must be completed, and it has to be filed and served no later than 15 calendar days before the conference.⁴

Discovery and Expert Witness Timing

Two deadlines are worth flagging while you’re preparing for the meet and confer, because they shape what you negotiate.

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 2034.210, any party can demand a simultaneous exchange of expert witness lists and declarations once a trial date is set.⁵ The exchange must include each expert’s name and address, and for retained experts a declaration covering qualifications, the general substance of expected testimony, confirmation the expert has agreed to testify, and the expert’s hourly and daily deposition fees. The default deadline is 50 days before the initial trial date, or 20 days after service of the demand, whichever is closer to trial.⁶ Missing it can get your expert excluded at trial, so the meet and confer is a good moment to confirm both sides understand the timing.

If your case is a limited civil case (meaning the amount in controversy is $35,000 or less under Code of Civil Procedure section 86), the economic litigation procedures in sections 90 through 98 may constrain how much discovery you can take.⁷ If you plan to ask the court for additional discovery beyond those limits, raise it during the meet and confer so it’s not a surprise at the conference.

Settlement and ADR

Settlement is on the required agenda. CRC 3.727 also lists ADR referral among the subjects the judge will address at the conference, and many courts will order the parties into mediation, a settlement conference, neutral evaluation, nonbinding judicial arbitration, or private binding arbitration if they have not already tried something.⁸ Having a position on which process makes sense, and whether the timing is right, lets you influence what gets ordered rather than reacting to it.

Consequences of Skipping the Meet and Confer

Not participating in the meet and confer, or showing up to it unprepared and then filing a hollow Case Management Statement, carries real risk. The court has broad authority to impose sanctions for noncompliance with the case management rules. Those can be monetary, including fees payable to the opposing party, and in serious situations can reach the merits of the case through orders that dismiss claims or strike an answer.

Even short of formal sanctions, judges notice. A thin statement or a party who clearly did not engage with the other side signals that the case needs closer supervision, and that usually translates into more court appearances, tighter deadlines, and less flexibility when something has to shift later. The meet and confer is your earliest and cheapest chance to shape how the rest of the litigation runs.

1
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.724 – Duty to Meet and Confer
2
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.720 – Application
3
California Courts. Case Management Statement (CM-110)
4
Judicial Council of California. Judicial Council Form CM-110 Case Management Statement
5
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2034.210
6
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2034.230 – Demand for Exchange of Expert Witness Information
7
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 86 – Jurisdiction in Limited Civil Cases
8
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.727 – Subjects to Be Considered at the Case Management Conference