The second court appearances that most of our clients receive after pleading not guilty is a Status Conference. This is exactly what it sounds like: the judge will ask the lawyers what the status of a criminal case is. At that point some cases will be scheduled for a trial, others for a plea and sentencing hearing, and some for motion hearings. It is also very common to request an additional status conference to have more time to investigate, review discovery, or make a counteroffer in a case.
Most counties that we practice in will only use the status conference to schedule, which is why in most cases we end up moving a case from a status conference to a hearing that will allow us to take the next necessary step. In La Crosse County the judges' offices will contact us before the status conference and encourage us to do so. Monroe County requires written notice eight days before their status conferences informing the judge of how the case should be scheduled (their hearings are called "Plea/Schedule" instead of a status conference). However, a few counties (Vernon County in particular) still permit our clients to enter pleas or resolve a case during a status conference without additional notice.
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