|
1141.10.
(a) The Legislature finds and
declares that litigation involving small civil claims has become so costly
and complex as to make more difficult the efficient resolution of
such civil claims that courts are unable to efficiently resolve the
increased number of cases filed each year, and that the resulting delays
and expenses deny parties their right to a timely resolution of minor
civil disputes. The Legislature further finds and declares that
arbitration has proven to be an efficient and equitable method for
resolving small claims, and that courts should encourage or require the
use of arbitration for such actions whenever possible.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that:
(1) Arbitration hearings
held pursuant to this chapter shall provide parties with a simplified and
economical procedure for obtaining prompt and equitable esolution of their
disputes.
(2) Arbitration hearings
shall be as informal and private as possible and shall provide the parties
themselves maximum opportunity to participate directly in the resolution
of their disputes, and shall be held during nonjudicial hours whenever
possible.
(3) Members of the State
Bar selected to serve as arbitrators should have experience with cases of
the type under dispute and are urged to volunteer their services without
compensation whenever possible.
1141.11.
(a) In each superior court with 10 or more judges,
or 18 or more judges in a county in which there is no municipal court, all
at-issue civil actions pending on or filed after the operative date of
this chapter, other than a limited civil case, shall be submitted to
arbitration, by the presiding judge or the judge designated, under this
chapter if the amount in controversy in the opinion of the court will not
exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for each plaintiff, which decision
shall not be appealable.
(b) In each superior court with less than 10
judges, or fewer than 18 judges in a county in which there is no municipal
court, the court may provide by local rule, when it determines that it is
in the best interests of justice, that all at-issue civil actions pending
on or filed after the operative date of this chapter, shall be submitted
to arbitration by the presiding judge or the judge designated under this
chapter if the amount in controversy in the opinion of the court will not
exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for each plaintiff, which decision
shall not be appealable.
(c) Each municipal court, or superior court in a
county in which there is no municipal court, may provide by local rule,
when it is determined to be in the best interests of justice, that all
at-issue limited civil cases pending on or filed after the operative date
of this chapter, shall be submitted to arbitration by the presiding judge
or the judge designated under this chapter. This section does not apply to
any action in small claims court, or to any action maintained pursuant to
Section 1781 of the Civil Code or Section 1161 of this code.
(d) In each court that has adopted judicial
arbitration pursuant to subdivision (c), all limited civil cases pending
on or after July 1, 1990, that involve a claim for money damages against a
single defendant as a result of a motor vehicle collision, except those
heard in the small claims division, shall be submitted to arbitration
within 120 days of the filing of the defendant's answer to the complaint
(except as may be extended by the court for good cause) before an
arbitrator selected by the court, subject to disqualification for cause as
specified in Sections 170.1 and 170.6.
The court may provide by local rule for the
voluntary or mandatory use of case questionnaires, established under
Section 93, in any proceeding subject to these provisions. Where local
rules provide for the use of case questionnaires, the questionnaires shall
be exchanged by the parties upon the defendant's answer and completed and
returned within 60 days.
For the purposes of this subdivision, the term
"single defendant" means (1) an individual defendant, whether a
person or an entity, (2) two or more persons covered by the same insurance
policy applicable to the motor vehicle collision, or (3) two or more
persons residing in the same household when no insurance policy exists
that is applicable to the motor vehicle collision. The naming of one or
more cross-defendants, not a plaintiff, shall constitute a
multiple-defendant case not subject to the provisions of this subdivision.
(e) No local rule of a superior court providing
for judicial arbitration may dispense with the conference required
pursuant to Section 1141.16.
1141.12.
(a) In each superior court in which arbitration
may be had pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 1141.11, upon
stipulation of the parties, any at-issue civil actions shall be submitted
to arbitration regardless of the amount in controversy.
(b) In all other superior and municipal courts,
the Judicial Council shall provide by rule for a uniform system of
arbitration of the following causes:
(i) Any cause upon
stipulation of the parties.
(ii) Upon filing of an
election by the plaintiff, any cause in which the plaintiff agrees that
the arbitration award shall not exceed the amount in controversy as
specified in Section 1141.11.
(c) Any election by a plaintiff shall be filed no
sooner than the filing of the at-issue memorandum, and no later than 90
days before trial, or at a later time if permitted by the court.
1141.13.
This chapter shall not apply to any civil action
which includes a prayer for equitable relief, except that if the prayer
for equitable relief is frivolous or insubstantial, this chapter shall be
applicable.
1141.14.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law except
the provisions of this chapter, the Judicial Council shall provide by rule
for practice and procedure for all actions submitted to arbitration under
this chapter. The Judicial Council rules shall provide for and conform
with the provisions of this chapter.
1141.15.
The Judicial Council rules shall provide
exceptions for cause to arbitration pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), or
(c) of Section 1141.11. In providing for such exceptions, the Judicial
Council shall take into consideration whether the civil action might not
be amenable to arbitration.
1141.16.
(a) The determination of the amount in
controversy, under subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 1141.11 and Section
1141.12, shall be made by the court and the case submitted to arbitration
at any conference at which all parties are present or represented by
counsel. Such conference shall be held no later than three months after
the at-issue memorandum is filed or no later than 90 days before trial,
whichever occurs first. At that time the court shall make a determination
whether any prayer for equitable relief is frivolous or insubstantial,
which decision shall not be appealable. The date of such conference may be
postponed upon motion of any party for good cause shown. No determination
pursuant to this section shall be made if all parties stipulate in writing
that the amount in controversy exceeds the amount specified in Section
1141.11.
(b) The determination and any stipulation of the
amount in controversy shall be without prejudice to any finding on the
value of the case by an arbitrator or in a subsequent trial de novo. The
determination shall be based on the total amount of damages, and the judge
shall not consider questions of liability or comparative negligence or
other defenses.
(c) The case shall be submitted to arbitration at
an earlier time upon the written request of all plaintiffs, subject to a
motion by a defendant for good cause shown to delay the arbitration
hearing.
(d) In cases submitted to arbitration pursuant to
Section 1141.11 or subdivision (a) of Section 1141.12 or paragraph (i) of
subdivision (b) of Section 1141.12, an arbitrator shall be assigned to
hear a case within 30 days from the time of its submission to arbitration.
1141.17.
(a) Submission of an action to arbitration
pursuant to this chapter shall not suspend the running of the time periods
specified in Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 583.110) of Title 8 of
Part 2, except as provided in this section.
(b) If an action is or remains submitted to
arbitration pursuant to this chapter more than four years and six months
after the plaintiff has filed the action, then the time beginning on the
date four years and six months after the plaintiff has filed the action
and ending on the date on which a request for a de novo trial is filed
under Section 1141.20 shall not be included in computing the five-year
period specified in Section 583.310.
1141.18.
(a) Arbitrators shall
be retired judges, retired court commissioners who were licensed to
practice law prior to their appointment as a commissioner, or members of
the State Bar, and shall sit individually. A judge may also serve as an
arbitrator without compensation. People who are not attorneys may serve as
arbitrators upon the stipulation of all parties.
(b) The Judicial Council rules shall provide for
the compensation, if any, of arbitrators, except that no compensation
shall be paid prior to the filing of the award by the arbitrator, or prior
to the settlement of the case by the parties. Compensation for arbitrators
shall, unless waived in whole or in part, be one hundred fifty dollars
($150) per case, or one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per day, whichever is
greater, except that the board of supervisors of a county or a city and
county may set a higher level of compensation for that county or city and
county.
(c) The board of governors of the State Bar shall
provide by rule for the method of selection of arbitrators after
consulting with administrative committees established pursuant to Rule
1603 of the Judicial Arbitration Rules for Civil Cases and with county bar
associations in counties where there are no administrative committees.
These rules shall provide for specialized panels and shall become
operative upon approval of the Judicial Council.
(d) Any party may
request the disqualification of the arbitrator selected for his or her
case on the grounds and by the procedures specified in Section 170.1 or
170.6. A request for disqualification of an arbitrator on grounds
specified in Section 170.6 shall be made within five days of the naming of
the arbitrator. An arbitrator shall disqualify himself or herself, upon
demand of any party to the arbitration made before the conclusion of the
arbitration proceedings on any of the grounds specified in Section 170.1.
1141.19.
Arbitrators approved pursuant to this chapter
shall have the powers necessary to perform duties pursuant to this chapter
as prescribed by the Judicial Council.
1141.19.5.
In any arbitration proceeding under this chapter,
no party may require the production of evidence specified in subdivision
(a) of Section 3295 of the Civil Code at the arbitration, unless the court
enters an order permitting pretrial discovery of that evidence pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 3295 of the Civil Code.
1141.20.
(a) An arbitration award shall be final unless a
request for a de novo trial is filed within 30 days after the date the
arbitrator files the award with the court.
(b) Any party may elect to have a de novo trial,
by court or jury, both as to law and facts. Such trial shall be
calendared, insofar as possible, so that the trial shall be given the same
place on the active list as it had prior to arbitration, or shall receive
civil priority on the next setting calendar
1141.21.
(a) If the judgment upon the trial de novo is not
more favorable in either the amount of damages awarded or the type of
relief granted for the party electing the trial de novo than the
arbitration award, the court shall order that party to pay the following
nonrefundable costs and fees, unless the court finds in writing and upon
motion that the imposition of such costs and fees would create such a
substantial economic hardship as not to be in the interest of justice:
(i) To the county, the
compensation actually paid to the arbitrator, less any amount paid
pursuant to paragraph (iv).
(ii) To the other party or
parties, all costs specified in Section 1033.5, and the party electing the
trial de novo shall not recover his or her costs.
(iii) To the other party
or parties, the reasonable costs of the services of expert witnesses, who
are not regular employees of any party, actually incurred or reasonably
necessary in the preparation or trial of the case.
(iv) To the other party or
parties, the compensation paid by the other party or parties to the
arbitrator, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1141.28.
Such costs and fees, other than the compensation
of the arbitrator, shall include only those incurred from the time of
election of the trial de novo.
(b) If the party electing the trial de novo has
proceeded in the action in forma pauperis and has failed to obtain a more
favorable judgment, the costs and fees under paragraphs (ii) and (iii) of
subdivision (a) shall be imposed only as an offset against any damages
awarded in favor of that party.
(c) If the party electing the trial de novo has
proceeded in the action in forma pauperis and has failed to obtain a more
favorable judgment, the costs under paragraph (i) of subdivision (a) shall
be imposed only to the extent that there remains a sufficient amount in
the judgment after the amount offset under subdivision (b) has been
deducted from the judgment.
1141.22.
The Judicial Council rules shall specify the
grounds upon which the arbitrator or the court, or both, may correct,
modify or vacate an award.
1141.23.
The arbitration award shall be in writing, signed
by the arbitrator and filed in the court in which the action is pending.
If there is no request for a de novo trial and the award is not vacated,
the award shall be entered in the judgment book in the amount of the
award. Such award shall have the same force and effect as a judgment in
any civil action or proceeding, except that it is not subject to appeal
and it may not be attacked or set aside except as provided by Section 473,
1286.2, or Judicial Council rule.
1141.24.
In cases ordered to arbitration pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 1141.16, absent a stipulation to the contrary,
no discovery other than that permitted by Section 2034 is permissible
after an arbitration award except by leave of court upon a showing of good
cause.
1141.25.
Any reference to the arbitration proceedings or
arbitration award during any subsequent trial shall constitute an
irregularity in the proceedings of the trial for the purposes of Section
657.
1141.26.
Nothing in this act shall prohibit an arbitration
award in excess of the amount in controversy as specified in Section
1141.11. No party electing a trial de novo after such award shall be
subject to the provisions of Section 1141.21 if the judgment upon the
trial de novo is in excess of the amount in controversy as specified in
Section 1141.11.
1141.27.
This chapter shall apply to any civil action
otherwise within the scope of this chapter in which a party to the action
is a public agency or public entity.
1141.28.
(a) All administrative costs of arbitration,
including compensation of arbitrators, shall be paid for by the county in
which the arbitration costs are incurred, except as otherwise provided in
subdivision (b) and in Section 1141.21.
(b) The actual costs of compensation of
arbitrators in any proceeding which would not otherwise be subject to the
provisions of this chapter but in which arbitration is conducted pursuant
to this chapter solely because of the stipulation of the parties, shall be
paid for in equal shares by the parties. If the imposition of these costs
would create such a substantial economic hardship for any party as not to
be in the interest of justice, as determined by the arbitrator, that
party's share of costs shall be paid for by the county in which the
arbitration costs are incurred. The determination as to substantial
economic hardship may be reviewed by the court.
1141.29.
The Judicial Council shall, by rule, require each
superior and municipal court subject to the provisions of this chapter to
file with it such data as will enable it to provide, on or beforeJanuary
1, 1984, a report to the Governor and the Legislature which shall serve as
a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of this chapter, and which
shall include recommendations for future action.
The Judicial Council, in consultation with the
Department of Finance and the Auditor General, shall include in its study
an estimate of the potential costs or savings, if any, should the program
be continued beyond the life of the act.
1141.30.
This chapter shall not be construed in derogation
of Title 9 (commencing with Section 1280) of Part 3, and, to that extent,
this chapter and that title, other than Section 1280.1, are mutually
exclusive and independent of each other.
1141.31.
The provisions of this chapter shall become
operative July 1, 1979, except that the Judicial Council shall adopt the
arbitration rules for practice and procedures on or before March 31, 1979 |
