(a) Purpose. The Court adopts Local Rules 16.4 to 16.7 to make available to the
Court and the parties a program of court-annexed dispute resolution processes designed
to provide alternatives to traditional litigation.
It is not contemplated that these processes will be suitable for every case. Rather,
the Judges of the Court believe that the careful selection of processes to fit the cases will
result in the efficient preparation and resolution of those cases, to the benefit of the
parties, their counsel, and the Court.
(b) Definitions.
(1) The "assigned Judge" is the Judge to whom the case is assigned. If
the Judge has referred the matter to a Magistrate Judge, the Magistrate Judge is
the assigned Judge under Local Rules 16.4 to 16.10 with respect to actions or
decisions which are to be made by the assigned Judge.
(2) "Early Neutral Evaluation" ("E.N.E.") is a pre-trial process involving
a neutral who meets with the parties early in the course of the litigation to help
them focus on the issues, organize discovery, work expeditiously to prepare the
case for trial, and, if possible, settle all or part of the case. The neutral evaluator
provides the parties with an evaluation of the legal and factual issues, to the extent
possible, at that early stage of the case. The evaluation process described in Local
