Section 20.501 - Conferences(a) Any party may by motion request a conference.(b) The ALJ may direct the parties to attend one or more conferences before or during a hearing.(c) The ALJ may invite interested persons to attend a conference, other than a settlement conference, as the ALJ deems appropriate.(d) The ALJ shall give reasonable notice of the time and place of any conference to the parties, and to interested persons if invited. A conference may occur in person, by telephone, or by other appropriate means.(e) Each party, and any interested person invited, shall be fully prepared for a useful discussion of all issues properly before the conference, both procedural and substantive, and be authorized to commit themselves or those they represent respecting those issues.(f) Unless the ALJ excuses a party, the failure of a party to attend or participate in a conference, after being served with reasonable notice of its time and place, waives all objections to any agreements reached in it and to any consequent orders or rulings.(g) The ALJ may direct that any of the following be addressed or furnished before, during, or after the conference: (1) Methods of service and filing.(2) Motions for consolidation or severance of parties or issues.(3) Motions for discovery.(4) Identification, simplification, and clarification of the issues.(5) Requests for amendment of the pleadings.(6) Stipulations and admissions of fact and of the content and authenticity of documents.(7) The desirability of limiting and grouping witnesses, so as to avoid duplication.(8) Requests for official notice and particular matters to be resolved by reliance upon the substantive standards, rules, and other policies of the Coast Guard.(9) Offers of settlement.(10) Proposed date, time, and place of the hearing.(11) Other matters that may aid in the disposition of the proceeding.(h) No one may stenographically report or otherwise record a conference unless the ALJ allows.(i) During a conference, the ALJ may dispose of any procedural matters on which he or she is authorized to rule.(j) Actions taken at a conference may be memorialized in-(1) A stenographic report if authorized by the ALJ;(2) A written transcript from a magnetic tape or the equivalent if authorized by the ALJ; or(3) A statement by the ALJ on the record at the hearing summarizing them.