BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 731| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ CONSENT Bill No: SB 731 Author: Senate Judiciary Committee Amended: 3/29/11 Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 3/22/11 AYES: Evans, Harman, Corbett, Leno NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee SUBJECT : Civil actions SOURCE : Judicial Council DIGEST : This bill clarifies that existing law relating to vexatious litigants applies to matters in the Courts of Appeal. This bill creates a process for the courts to follow when a vexatious litigant seeks removal from Judicial Council's vexatious litigant list, and this bill also makes changes to the judicial arbitration program by allowing parties to file a request for dismissal following a satisfactory arbitration, as well as other changes, as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing law prohibits a vexatious litigant from filing any new litigation in pro per without first obtaining permission of the presiding judge of the court where the litigation is to be filed. Existing law allows for the presiding judge to permit the filing of litigation by a vexatious litigant only if it appears that the litigation has merit and has not been filed for the CONTINUED SB 731 Page 2 purposes of harassment or delay. (Code of Civil Procedure Section 391.7 (a) and (b).) This bill adds "presiding justice" before "presiding judge" to clarify that this section also applies to the Courts of Appeal. This bill also clarifies that the presiding justice or presiding judge is authorized to designate another justice or judge to perform his or her duties under the statute. Existing law prohibits the court clerk from filing any litigation presented by a vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order unless the vexatious litigant first obtains an order from a presiding judge permitting the order. If the litigation is mistakenly filed by the clerk without the order, any party may file with the clerk to serve on the plaintiff and other parties a notice stating that the plaintiff is a vexatious litigant. (Code of Civil Procedure Section 391.7 (c).) This bill authorizes the presiding justice or presiding judge, to order the clerk to give notice of a vexatious litigant's status if the clerk mistakenly files the litigation without a prefiling order. Existing case law allows for a vexatious litigant to be removed from Judicial Council's list of vexatious litigants if he/she can demonstrate "a mending of the ways." The litigant must file an application in the court that entered the prefiling order to vacate the order and be removed from the vexatious litigant list. The criteria for vacating a prefiling order and removing a vexatious litigant from the list are that (1) there has been a material change in the facts upon which the order was entered, or (2) the "ends of justice" would be served. ( Luckett v. Panos (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 77, 83; PBA, LLC v. KPOD, Ltd. (2003) 112 Cal.App.4th 9965, 978.) This bill requires a vexatious litigant to follow specified procedures in order to vacate a prefiling order and remove his/her name from Judicial Council's list of vexatious litigants. A vexatious litigant would be required to file an application in the court that entered the prefiling order and the application must be made before the presiding CONTINUED SB 731 Page 3 justice or judge who originally declared the plaintiff to be a vexatious litigant, if the justice or judge is available. The presiding justice or presiding judge of a court may designate a justice or judge of the same court to act on his/her behalf in exercising the authority and responsibilities, as specified. This bill authorizes a judge to vacate the prefiling order and remove the plaintiff's name from the list of vexatious litigants upon a showing of a material change in the facts and that the ends of justice will be served. This bill limits a vexatious litigant to one application per 12 month period following denial of the previous application. Existing law requires courts with 18 or more judges to have a judicial arbitration program for unlimited civil cases. Courts are required to refer non-exempt cases into the program if the amount in controversy is no more than $50,000 per plaintiff. (Code of Civil Procedure Section 1141.11.) Existing law allows parties to opt into the program under certain circumstances. (Code of Civil Procedure Section 1141.12.) Existing law requires a party to request a trial de novo within 30 days after the date of the filing of the arbitrator's award with the court, or the award will be a final judgment of law. (Code of Civil Procedure Sections 1141.20 and 1141.23.) This bill allows parties to request a dismissal when they are satisfied with the arbitration award instead of having to file a request for a trial de novo or risk having a judgment entered against them. This bill extends the time period to request the dismissal or trial de novo from 30 days to 60 days. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No CONTINUED SB 731 Page 4 SUPPORT : (Verified 3/29/11) Judicial Council (source) ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor of this bill, Judicial Council, "SB 731 will reduce costs for the parties and the courts associated with preparing, filing, and processing unnecessary trial de novo requests. Providing parties with the option of filing a request for dismissal to stop entry of the arbitrator's award as the judgment will allow parties who are satisfied with that award, or who were able to reach agreement with the help of the award, to settle their cases without also having to file a trial de novo request. In addition, giving parties an additional 30 days before the arbitrator's award is entered as the judgment should also increase the number of cases in which the parties have sufficient time to work out the details of a settlement, further reducing the number of unnecessary trial de novo requests that are filed." In light of the state's financial crisis it is increasingly important to find ways for the courts to run more efficiently. This bill will clarify and streamline the procedures for courts dealing with vexatious litigants. Minor substantive changes will be made to clarify that this statute applies in the Courts of Appeal and that the presiding justice or judge may designate another justice or judge to carry out his or her duties, as is currently the practice in most courts with multiple justices or judges. Under this bill, the process for a vexatious litigant to be removed from the list will be codified to ensure consistency among the courts. As a result of these clarifications and additions there should be a savings of time and money for both litigants and the courts. " RJG:do 3/30/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED SB 731 Page 5 CONTINUED