Group III: Pleadings and Motions · Last amended March 1, 2019 · Last verified July 14, 2026
(a) Pretrial Conferences; Objectives. In any action, the court may order the attorneys and any unrepresented parties to appear for one or more pretrial conferences for such purposes as:
(1) expediting disposition of the action;
(2) establishing early and continuing control so that the case will not be protracted because of lack of management;
(3) discouraging wasteful pretrial activities;
(4) improving the quality of the trial through more thorough preparation; and
(5) facilitating settlement.
(b) Scheduling and Planning.
(1) Scheduling Order. Except in categories of actions exempted by local rule, the court must, after consulting with the attorneys for the parties and any unrepresented parties by a scheduling conference, case conference, telephone conference, or other suitable means, enter a scheduling order.
(2) Time to Issue. The court must issue the scheduling order as soon as practicable, but unless the court finds good cause for delay, the court must issue it within 60 days after:
(A) a Rule 16.1 case conference report has been filed; or
(B) the court waives the requirement of a case conference report under Rule 16.1(f).
(3) Contents of the Order.
(A) Required Contents. The scheduling order must limit the time to join other parties, amend the pleadings, complete discovery, and file motions.
(B) Permitted Contents. The scheduling order may:
(i) provide for disclosure, discovery, or preservation of electronically stored information;
(ii) direct that before moving for an order relating to discovery, the movant must request a conference with the court;
(iii) set dates for pretrial conferences, a final pretrial conference, and for trial; and
(iv) include any other appropriate matters.
(4) Modifying a Schedule. A schedule may be modified by the court for good cause.
(c) Attendance and Subjects to Be Discussed at Pretrial Conferences.
(1) Attendance. A represented party must authorize at least one of its attorneys to make stipulations and admissions about all matters that can reasonably be anticipated for discussion at a pretrial conference. If appropriate, the court may require that a party or its representative be present or reasonably available by other means to consider possible settlement.
(2) Matters for Consideration. At any pretrial conference, the court may consider and take appropriate action on the following matters:
(A) formulating and simplifying the issues, and eliminating frivolous claims or defenses;
(B) amending the pleadings if necessary or desirable;
(C) obtaining admissions and stipulations about facts and documents to avoid unnecessary proof, and ruling in advance on the admissibility of evidence;
(D) avoiding unnecessary proof and cumulative evidence, and limiting the use of testimony under NRS 47.060 and NRS 50.275;
(E) determining the appropriateness and timing of summary adjudication under Rule 56;
(F) identifying witnesses and documents, scheduling the filing and exchange of any pretrial briefs, and setting dates for further conferences and for trial;
(G) referring matters to a discovery commissioner or a master;
(H) settling the case and using special procedures to assist in resolving the dispute when authorized by statute or local rule;
(I) determining the form and content of the pretrial order;
(J) disposing of pending motions;
(K) adopting special procedures for managing potentially difficult or protracted actions that may involve complex issues, multiple parties, difficult legal questions, or unusual proof problems;
(L) ordering a separate trial under Rule 42(b) of a claim, counterclaim, crossclaim, third-party claim, or particular issue;
(M) establishing a reasonable limit on the time allowed to present evidence; and
(N) facilitating in other ways the just, speedy, and inexpensive disposition of the action.
(d) Pretrial Orders. After any conference under this rule, the court should issue an order reciting the action taken. This order controls the course of the action unless the court modifies it.
(e) Final Pretrial Conference and Orders. The court may hold a final pretrial conference to formulate a trial plan, including a plan to facilitate the admission of evidence. The conference must be held as close to the start of trial as is reasonable, and must be attended by at least one attorney who will conduct the trial for each party and by any unrepresented party. The court may modify the order issued after a final pretrial conference only to prevent manifest injustice.
(1) In General. On motion or on its own, the court may issue any just orders, including those authorized by Rule 37(b)(1), if a party or its attorney:
(A) fails to appear at a scheduling or other pretrial conference;
(B) is substantially unprepared to participate—or does not participate in good faith—in the conference; or
(C) fails to obey a scheduling or other pretrial order.
(2) Imposing Fees and Costs. Instead of or in addition to any other sanction, the court must order the party, its attorney, or both to pay the reasonable expenses—including attorney fees—incurred because of any noncompliance with this rule, unless the noncompliance was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
Amended 7-1-87, eff. 1-1-88; Amended eff. 1-1-05; Amended eff. 3-1-19.
Rule 16 hands the court a set of management tools meant to keep a case moving instead of drifting. It can call the attorneys and any self-represented parties together for pretrial conferences aimed at narrowing issues, cutting wasted effort, and pushing toward settlement. The centerpiece is the scheduling order, which the court must issue after the parties file their case conference report under Rule 16.1, setting outer limits on joining parties, amending pleadings, finishing discovery, and filing motions. That order can be changed later, but only for good cause.
At any pretrial conference the court can take up a long list of matters — simplifying claims, ruling on evidence in advance, referring disputes to a discovery commissioner or master, setting time limits for trial, or adopting special procedures for an unusually complicated case. Whatever the court decides gets written into a pretrial order that controls the rest of the case unless later modified. A final pretrial conference, held close to trial, produces an order that can only be changed afterward to prevent manifest injustice — a much higher bar than modifying an earlier scheduling order. And if a party or attorney skips a conference, shows up unprepared, or ignores a pretrial order, the rule requires the court to make the noncompliant side pay the other side’s reasonable expenses unless the failure was substantially justified.