Rule 13.170.Prehearing Statement of Proof

This is the chapter's disclosure deadline, and it runs to the arbitrator and to every other party at once. At least 14 days before the hearing, each party submits the following. First, a list of all exhibits to be offered, showing or accompanied by a description of the document and the name, address, and telephone number of its author or maker, complying with UTCR 13.190(2)(c). Second, a list of the witnesses the party intends to call, with their addresses and telephone numbers and a statement of the matters each will be called to testify about. Third, an estimate of the expected length of the hearing. On request, a party must make its exhibits available for inspection and copying.

The sanction is written into the rule. A party who fails to comply with it, or who fails to comply with a discovery order, may not present at the hearing any witness or exhibit that was required to be disclosed or made available, except with the arbitrator's permission. That is a real bar, and asking for permission after the fact is a worse position than disclosing on time.

Section (3) adds a quieter obligation. At least 14 days before the hearing, each party must also furnish the arbitrator with copies of the pleadings and other documents in the court file that the party deems relevant. The arbitrator is not working from the court's file, so the record the arbitrator sees is the record the parties build.