BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1403|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1403
          Author:   Assembly Judiciary Committee
          Amended:  9/2/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 7/5/11
          AYES:  Evans, Harman, Blakeslee, Corbett, Leno

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  73-1, 5/19/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Civil actions

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill provides that the deadline for 
          acceptance or rejection of the addition or reduction of 
          damages is 30 days from the date the conditional order is 
          served by the clerk of the court, if a deadline is not set 
          forth in the conditional order.  This bill provides that 
          failure to respond to the order shall be deemed a rejection 
          of the addition or reduction of damages, and a new trial 
          limited to the issue of damages shall be granted 
          automatically.  In addition, a party filing and serving an 
          acceptance of a conditionally ordered addition or reduction 
          of damages must concurrently serve and submit to the court 
          a propose amended judgment reflecting the modified judgment 
          amount, as well as any other uncontested judgment awards.  
          This bill provides that a prevailing party could recover 
          costs for court interpreter fees for a qualified court 
          interpreter, authorized by the court for an indigent person 
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          as specified, and also makes non-substantive changes to the 
          existing voir dire statute.  

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 9/2/11 address concerns with the 
          civil jury trial voir dire process, specifically (1) 
          provide that the trial judge should allow a brief opening 
          statement by counsel for each party prior to the 
          commencement of the oral questioning phase of the voir dire 
          process; (2) prohibit a trial judge from establishing a 
          blanket policy of a time limit for voir dire; (3) prohibit 
          the court from arbitrarily or unreasonably refusing to 
          submit reasonable written questionnaires and will also 
          provide that where a questionnaire is utilized, the parties 
          should be given reasonable time to evaluate the responses 
          to the questionnaires before oral questioning commences; 
          and (4) provide that the judge in civil trials should 
          provide the parties with both the alphabetical list and the 
          list of prospective jurors in the order in which they will 
          be called in order to help facilitate the jury selection 
          process. 

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law provides that in any civil action 
          where after trial by jury an order granting a new trial 
          limited to the issue of damages would be proper, the trial 
          court may in its discretion:

           If the ground for granting a new trial is inadequate 
            damages, make its order granting the new trial subject to 
            the condition that the motion is denied if the party 
            against whom the verdict has been rendered consents to an 
            addition of so much thereto as the court in its 
            independent judgment determines from the evidence to be 
            fair and reasonable. 

           If the ground for granting a new trial is excessive 
            damages, make its order granting the new trial subject to 
            the condition that the motion is denied if the party in 
            whose favor the verdict has been rendered consents to a 
            reduction of so much thereof as the court in its 
            independent judgment determines from the evidence to be 
            fair and reasonable.  (Code of Civil Procedure Section 
            662.5.)  

          This bill amends those provisions to provide that in any 

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          civil action where after trial by jury an order granting a 
          new trial limited to the issue of damages will be proper, 
          the trial court may in its discretion: 

           If the ground for granting a new trial is inadequate 
            damages, issue a conditional order granting the new trial 
            unless the party against whom the verdict has been 
            rendered consents to the addition of damages in an amount 
            the court in its independent judgment determines from the 
            evidence to be fair and reasonable.

           If the ground for granting a new trial is excessive 
            damages, issue a conditional order granting the new trial 
            unless the party in whose favor the verdict has been 
            rendered consents to the reduction of so much thereof as 
            the court in its independent judgment determines form the 
            evidence to be fair and reasonable.  

          This bill provides that if a conditional order does not set 
          forth the deadline for acceptance or rejection of the 
          addition or reduction of damages, the deadline is 30 days 
          from the date the conditional order is served by the clerk 
          of the court.  In addition, this bill provides that failure 
          to respond to the order as specified shall be deemed a 
          rejection of the addition or reduction of damages and a new 
          trial limited to the issue of damages shall be granted 
          automatically.

          This bill requires that a party filing and serving an 
          acceptance of a conditionally ordered addition or reduction 
          of damages to concurrently serve and submit to the court a 
          proposed amended judgment reflecting the modified judgment 
          amount, as well as any other uncontested judgment awards. 

          Existing law defines "qualified legal services project" as 
          either:

           A nonprofit project incorporated and operated exclusively 
            in California that provides as its primary purpose and 
            function free legal services to indigent persons and that 
            has quality control procedures approved by the State Bar. 


           A program operated exclusively in California by a 

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            nonprofit law school accredited by the State Bar that 
            has: 

             o    Operated for at least two years at a cost of at 
               least twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) per year as an 
               identifiable law school unit with a primary purpose 
               and function of providing legal services without 
               charge to indigent persons.

             o    Quality control procedures approved by the State 
               Bar.  (Business & Profession Code Section 6213(a)

          Existing law defines "indigent person" as a person whose 
          income is (1) 125 percent or less of the current poverty 
          threshold established by the United States Office of 
          Management and Budget, or (2) who is eligible for 
          Supplemental Security Income or free services under the 
          Older

          Existing law defines "prevailing party" as the party with a 
          net monetary recovery, a defendant in whose favor a 
          dismissal is entered, a defendant where neither plaintiff 
          nor defendant obtains any relief, and a defendant as 
          against those plaintiffs who do not recover any relief 
          against that defendant.  When any party recovers other than 
          monetary relief and in situations other than as specified, 
          the "prevailing party" shall be as determined by the court, 
          and under those circumstances, the court, in its 
          discretion, may allow costs or not and, if allowed may 
          apportion costs between the parties on the same or adverse 
          sides pursuant to rules adopted as specified.  (Code of 
          Civil Procedure Section 1032(a)(4).)

          Existing law provides that except as otherwise provided by 
          statute, a prevailing party is entitled as a matter of 
          right to recovery costs in any action or proceeding.  (Code 
          of Civil Procedure Section 1032(a)(5).) 

          Existing law enumerates the items allowable as costs under 
          Section 1032, including:

           Filing, motion, and jury fees. 
           Juror food and lodging, as specified. 
           Taking, video recording, and transcribing necessary 

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            depositions, as specified. 
           Service of process, as specified. 
           Expenses of attachment including keepers' fees. 
           Premiums on necessary surety bonds.
           Ordinary witness fees, as specified. 
           Court report fees as established by statute. 
           Models and blowups of exhibits and photocopies of 
            exhibits that may be allowed if they were reasonably 
            helpful to aid the trier of fact. And 
           Any other item that is required to be awarded to the 
            prevailing party pursuant to statute as an incident to 
            prevailing in the action at trial or on appeal.  (Code of 
            Civil Procedure Section 1033.5(a).)  

          This bill adds to the list above court interpreter fees for 
          a qualified court interpreter authorized by the court for 
          an indigent person represented by a qualified legal service 
          project, as specified.

          Existing law requires a trial judge to examine prospective 
          jurors, and, upon completion of the judge's examination, 
          grants counsel for each party the right to examine, by oral 
          and direct questioning, any prospective juror in order to 
          enable counsel to intelligently exercise peremptory 
          challenges and challenges for cause.  Existing law requires 
          the scope of examination conducted by counsel to be within 
          the reasonable limits prescribed by the trial judge and 
          prohibits the imposition of unreasonable or arbitrary time 
          limits on the examination.

          This bill specifies that this prohibition applies to all 
          cases.  This bill provides that the trial judge should 
          allow a brief opening statement by counsel for each party 
          prior to the commencement of the oral questioning phase of 
          the voir dire process.  This bill prohibits the trial judge 
          from establishing a blanket policy of a time limit for voir 
          dire, and provides that the parties should be given 
          reasonable time to evaluate the responses to any written 
          questionnaires, if used, before oral questioning commences. 
           This bill also provides that the judge in civil trials 
          should provide the parties with both the alphabetical list 
          and the list of prospective jurors in the order in which 
          they will be called.


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          Existing law provides procedures governing the selection of 
          a fair and impartial jury in civil jury trials, among which 
          it provides that specific unreasonable or arbitrary time 
          limits shall not be imposed.  (Code of Civil Procedure 
          Section 222.5.)

          This bill makes a technical, nonsubstantive change to that 
          provision. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  9/2/11)

          Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality 
          California Chamber of Commerce
          Consumer Attorneys of California 
          Judicial Council 
          Legal Aid Association of California 
          One Justice

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author, "Ýt]his 
          bill seeks to improve civil procedure by (1) strengthening 
          protections against potential bias among prospective jurors 
          in order to ensure a fair and impartial jury; (2) 
          clarifying the process and deadlines when a court grants a 
          conditional order for a new trial based on reduction of or 
          addition to a jury's award of damages; and (3) expanding 
          access to qualified court interpreters by allowing 
          interpreter costs to be recovered by indigent parties 
          represented by a qualified legal services program approved 
          by the State Bar."  

          The California Chamber of Commerce writes in support of 
          this bill, and specifically, the provisions on new trials 
          based on inadequate or excessive damages that, "AB 1403 
          provides clarity in this area, and will expedite resolution 
          of legal disputes by establishing a default deadline in the 
          absence of one being set by the judge.  . . .  By 
          establishing this 30-day deadline to respond, AB 1403 
          Ýe]nsures that these matters will be dealt with 
          expeditiously and that the opposing party will have time to 
          appeal, if they so choose, once the conditional offer has 
          been accepted or rejected.  AB 1403 will create certainty 

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          and encourage efficiency in this area of civil litigation, 
          saving the courts and litigants valuable time and money."  

          Writing in support of the bill's provision on recovery of 
          costs for court interpreters is the Asian Americans for 
          Civil Rights & Equality, "The US Census American Community 
          Survey, which was released in December 2010, indicates that 
          19.8 percent (6.5 million) of Californians have a limited 
          proficiency in English.  This is an increase of half a 
          million from 2000. . . . Civil courts govern critical 
          issues that affect the well being of Californians, 
          involving areas such as child custody, child support, 
          housing, and consumer protections.  For limited English 
          proficient individuals, language assistance is needed so 
          that they can meaningfully access the courts; understand 
          pleadings, forms or other legal documents; communicate with 
          clerks or court staff; and participate in court 
          proceedings.  AB 1403 will promote access to the courts by 
          including court interpreter fees for a qualified court 
          interpreter who is authorized by the court for an indigent 
          person represented by a qualified legal services project to 
          the allowable costs under California ÝC]ode of Civil 
          Procedure Section 1033.5(a)."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 73-1, 5/19/11
          AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill 
            Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, 
            Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, 
            Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, 
            Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, 
            Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, 
            Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, 
            Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, 
            John A. Pérez
          NOES: Donnelly
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Halderman, 
            Ma, Mansoor



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          RJG:do  9/6/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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