(1) A final pretrial conference precedes every trial unless otherwise ordered by the court.

(2) The court may appoint a hearing examiner to conduct the pretrial conference and may delegate authority to such hearing examiner to make rulings on all matters discussed at the pretrial conference, including pretrial motions of the parties.

(3) In the discretion of the court in appropriate circumstances, a pretrial conference may be conducted by a telephone conference call.

(4) At the time of the pretrial conference, or as otherwise ordered by the court, the parties shall present a proposed pretrial order in the form provided in (5). Disputes as to the content of the final pretrial order must be presented and resolved at the pretrial conference. The final, signed pretrial order must be filed and received at the court on the date as set forth in the scheduling order.

(5) The pretrial order must be signed by all parties and set forth the following:

(a) a statement of jurisdiction pursuant to the appropriate statutes;

(b) a list of all pending motions;

(c) any uncontested facts;

(d) any stipulations between the parties;

(e) a statement of the issues to be determined by the court;

(f) the parties' contentions, including in the case of the claimant all contentions which provide the basis for any claim of unreasonableness on the part of the insurer;

(g) a list of all exhibits to be offered by each party on an attached exhibit grid, including any objections an adverse party may have to the admission of particular exhibits and the grounds upon which those objections are made;

(h) the identity of all witnesses who may be called, including the name, address, and occupation of each witness, and the subject matter of the testimony each witness will give;

(i) any unusual legal or evidentiary issues;

(j) the estimated length of trial; and

(k) a statement as to whether or not the parties will be filing trial briefs and/or proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.

(6) Upon approval by the court, the pretrial order supersedes all other pleadings and governs the trial proceedings. Amendments to the pretrial order are allowed by either stipulation of the parties or leave of court for good cause shown.

(7) The parties must provide all exhibits which either party intends to offer at trial to the court on the date set forth in the scheduling order. The exhibits must be bound or in a three-ring notebook. All parties' exhibits must be combined in the same exhibit notebook and must be tabbed and numbered sequentially beginning with 1. The pages within each exhibit must be numbered sequentially beginning with 1. Exhibits attached to depositions must also be numbered sequentially. The court may refuse to accept exhibits which do not meet these criteria and/or may order the parties to resubmit the exhibits in the correct format. The petitioner shall provide an additional exhibit book for trial witnesses.

(8) Upon request, the court may schedule and hold an earlier preliminary pretrial conference to address any discovery or other issues encountered by the parties.