Meet And Confer Definition and Legal Meaning

On this page, you'll find the legal definition and meaning of Meet And Confer, written in plain English, along with examples of how it is used.

What is Meet And Confer?

(n) Meet And Confer is the phrase used to represent the meeting of lawyers to discuss the issues related to the Law suit, points of conflict, motions proposed etc to appraise the parties about their position so as to avoid unwanted arguments and lengthy legal procedures.

History and Meaning of Meet And Confer

Meet and Confer refers to a pre-trial meeting among the parties involved in a case to discuss issues, and try to reach agreements that can reduce the scope of the issues that must be resolved during trial. The purpose of Meet and Confer is to encourage party-controlled resolution of disputes rather than unnecessary agitation of court machinery.

The concept of Meet and Confer emerged from the 1993 amendments to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f), which require the parties' lawyers to meet and confer regarding discovery issues before seeking judicial intervention. The expectation is that the parties' attorneys are able to discuss and agree upon steps that could limit or decrease the amount of discovery. Meet and confer is now required under most state and federal rules of civil procedure.

Examples of Meet And Confer

  1. In a patent infringement disagreement, the lawyers for both parties met and conferred with the judge, with the hope of resolving the issues without a trial.

  2. Before the trial, the parties' attorneys engaged in Meet and Confer sessions to determine whether they could find areas of agreement and possibly work together to mitigate the terms of a settlement.

  3. During the Meet and Confer process, the attorneys came to an understanding of an array of factors that would help them avoid, narrow or reduce disputes and save significant sums of money.

Legal Terms Similar to Meet And Confer

  1. Mediation: Mediation is an alternate method of dispute resolution where parties engage in negotiations and use a neutral third party to facilitate the negotiations.

  2. Discovery: Discovery is a process where the parties gather and exchange information and other evidence relating to the respective claims of the parties to a lawsuit.

  3. Arbitration: Arbitration is an alternate method of dispute resolution where parties involved in a legal conflict submit their disputes to a neutral third party, whose decision they will accept as binding.

  4. Settlement conference: A settlement conference is a meeting arranged by the court, typically preceding a trial, where the parties involved in legal disputes must come to an agreement or compromise.