BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1183|
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                                       CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 1183
          Author:   Jones (R)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 6/4/13
          AYES:  Evans, Anderson, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Walters

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 4/15/13 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote


           SUBJECT  :    Civil discovery:  motion to compel further response

           SOURCE  :     Conference of California Bar Associations


           DIGEST  :    This bill provides that the 45-day period from  
          service of a response or supplemental response in which notice  
          of a motion to compel further response to discovery or must  
          occur, begins to run after the receipt of a verified response or  
          supplemental verified response.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. The Civil Discovery Act sets forth the scope, procedures, and  
             timeframes by which parties may conduct discovery.  (Code  
             Civil Procedure [CCP] Section 216.010)

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          2. The Civil Discovery Act, authorizes a party to a civil action  
             to obtain discovery, as specified, by inspecting documents,  
             electronically stored information, tangible things, and land  
             or other property in the possession of any other party to the  
             action.  (CCP Section 2017.010)

          3. Provides that any party may obtain discovery as follows:

             A.    By propounding to any other party to the action  
                written interrogatories to be answered under oath.  (CCP  
                Section 2030.010(a))

             B.    By inspecting, copying, testing, or sampling  
                documents, tangible things, land or other property, and  
                electronically stored information in the possession,  
                custody, or control of any other party to the action.   
                (CCP Section 2031.010(a))

             C.    By a written request that any other party to the  
                action admit the genuineness of specified documents, or  
                the truth of specified matters of fact, opinion relating  
                to fact, or application of law to fact.  A request for  
                admission may relate to a matter that is in controversy  
                between the parties.   (CCP Section 2033.010(a))

          4. Requires a party to whom the above requests are directed to  
             respond within 30 days after service of requests, as  
             specified, unless the court has shortened or extended the  
             time for response.  (CCP Sections 2030.260(a), (c);  
             2031.250(a), 2033.250(a))

          5. Requires that the party to whom the above requests are  
             directed sign the response under oath, unless the response  
             contains only objections, in which case the attorney must  
             sign the response under oath.   (CCP Sections 2030.250(a),  
             (c); 2031.250(a), (c); 2033.240(a), (c))

          6. Provides that upon receipt of a response to the above  
             discovery requests, the requesting party may move for an  
             order compelling further response to the demand under  
             specified circumstances.  (CCP Sections 2030.300(a),  
             2033.290(a))

          7. Provides that unless notice of a motion to compel further  

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             response is given within 45-days of service of the response,  
             or any supplemental response, or on or before any specific  
             later date to which the requesting party and the responding  
             party have agreed in writing, the requesting party waives any  
             right to compel a further response to the demand.  (CCP  
             Sections 2030.300(c), 2031.310(c), 2033.290(c))

          This bill amends the above sections to instead specify that  
          unless notice of the motion is given within 45-days of the  
          service of the verified response, or any supplemental verified  
          response, or on or before any specific date to which the  
          requesting party and the responding party have agreed in  
          writing, the requesting party waives any right to compel a  
          further response to the demand.

           Background
           
          Discovery is the formal exchange of evidentiary information and  
          materials between parties to a pending action.  Generally,  
          California's Civil Discovery Act permits any party to a civil  
          action to obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged,  
          that is relevant to the subject matter in the pending action or  
          to the determination of any motion made in that action, if the  
          matter either is admissible in evidence or appears reasonably  
          calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.   
          Under that Act, discovery can be obtained by inspecting  
          documents, electronically stored information, tangible things,  
          and land or other property in the possession of any other party  
          to the action.  Primary devices to conduct discovery include  
          interrogatories, depositions, requests for admissions, and  
          requests for production.   

          Under existing law, the party who receives an interrogatory,  
          demand for inspection, copying, testing or sampling of  
          documents, or request for admission, must respond to the request  
          within 30 days and must verify their response (or, in the case  
          wherein only objections to the request are made, their attorney  
          must verify the response).  Separately, existing law provides  
          that upon receipt of a response to a party's request for  
          interrogatories, production of evidence, and admissions, the  
          requesting party may move to compel further response under  
          certain circumstances, such as where the response was incomplete  
          or evasive.  The requesting party, however, must make the motion  
          to compel further response within 45-days of service of the  

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          response or supplemental response to their request, or else will  
          be deemed to have waived any right to make this motion.

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

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/4/13)

          Conference of California Bar Associations (source)
          California Chamber of Commerce 
          Civil Justice Association of California 


           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author: 

             The purpose of [this bill] is to help decrease abuses of  
             the discovery process.  The only way that discovery can  
             work effectively is if responses to discovery demands are  
             made under penalty of perjury.  However, it currently is  
             not clear whether a propounding party is at risk of losing  
             his right to compel further responses if he chooses to  
             wait for promised verifications.  There is [case law]  
             authority that an unsworn response is tantamount to no  
             response at all (see Appleton v. Superior Court (1988) 206  
             Cal.App.3d 632, 636), which many practitioners hold by.   
             However, the law in this area simply is not clear, which  
             allows for attempted games-playing by some practitioners. 

             AB 1183 would amend Code of Civil Procedure [Secs.]  
             2030.300, 2031.310, [and] 2033.290 to specify that the  
             time to bring motions to compel further responses to  
             requests for responses to interrogatories, for document  
             production[,] and for admissions, begins to run only after  
             verified responses are received.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 4/15/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,  
            Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,  
            Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,  
            Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,  

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            Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,  
            Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel  
            Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,  
            Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Harkey, Lowenthal, Vacancy


          AL:d  6/5/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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