A. Request for Telephone Conference Hearing.

   (1) Unless otherwise allowed by statute, no matter will be heard by telephone conference call unless consent is obtained from the court.

   (2) Telephone conferences requested by the moving party shall be arranged with the clerk of the district court prior to the filing of the motion, and the notice of hearing shall clearly state that the hearing will be held by telephone conference call. Telephone conferences requested by a party other than the moving party shall be arranged with the clerk at least 3 business days prior to the hearing, and notice shall be filed by the party requesting the telephonic hearing, together with proof of service thereof on all opposing parties.

   B. Not Available When Nonwaivable Verbatim Record Involved. Although in all instances a written journal entry of the decision of the court shall be made, no verbatim record will be made of any telephonically held hearing. Accordingly, no such hearing may be scheduled for any proceeding requiring a nonwaivable verbatim record under the provisions of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-734 (3) & Neb. Ct. R. of Prac. 5A(1). No telephonic hearing shall be allowed for any matter requiring the offer of exhibits in any form.

   C. Waiver of Other Record. Any party consenting to a telephonic hearing shall be deemed to have waived the verbatim record required only upon request under the provisions of Neb. Ct. R. of Prac. 5A(2). Conducting the hearing shall constitute a waiver of such optional verbatim record.

   D. Initiation of Telephone Conference Call.

   (1) The party requesting the telephone conference call shall be responsible for initiating the call and shall provide for all expenses of the call.

   (2) When a matter has been assigned for telephonic hearing on a regular motion/service day, the matter will not necessarily be heard at a specific time, unless the judge specifically sets a time certain. On such days, the assignment of a hearing time is approximate and may be intermingled with other matters scheduled for hearings by personal appearance. The parties shall call at the appointed time and make arrangments with the clerk as to when to call back, if necessary. The matter will be heard at a time reasonably convenient to the court and to those parties who appear personally on motion/service days.

   (3) The party initiating the call shall utilize appropriate equipment and systems to ensure that all persons participating have adequate sound quality and volume. If the court determines that the sound quality or volume is insufficient, the court may require the party initiating the call to utilize other means to complete the hearing by telephone.

Rule 5-10 amended January 21, 2016.