BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1002|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1002
Author: Wilk (R) and Alejo (D)
Amended: 5/7/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/16/15
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Civil actions: interpreter costs
SOURCE: Conference of California Bar Associations
DIGEST: This bill adds the fees of a certified or registered
interpreter for the deposition of a party or witness who does
not proficiently speak or understand the English language to the
list of fees recoverable by a prevailing party.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides that except as otherwise provided by statute, a
prevailing party, as defined, is entitled as a matter of right
to recover costs in any action or proceeding.
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Page 2
2)Enumerates the items allowable as costs under the above
provision, including specified costs relating to both
depositions and court reporters. Specifically, existing law
lists the following as recoverable costs, among other things:
Filing, motion, and jury fees;
Juror food and lodging, as specified;
Taking, video recording, and transcribing necessary
depositions, as specified;
Ordinary witness fees, as specified;
Transcripts of court proceedings ordered by the court;
Court reporter fees as established by statute;
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;
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.
1)Expressly prohibits the recovery of certain fees:
Fees of experts not ordered by the court;
Investigation expenses in preparing the case for trial;
Postage, telephone, and photocopying charges, except for
exhibits;
Costs in investigation of jurors or in preparation for
voir dire; and
Transcripts of court proceedings not ordered by the
court.
1)Provides that any award of costs is subject to the following
provisions, among others:
Allowable costs shall be reasonably necessary to the
conduct of the litigation rather than merely convenient or
beneficial to its preparation;
Allowable costs shall be reasonable in amount; and
Items not mentioned in this section and items assessed
upon application may be allowed or denied in the court's
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Page 3
discretion.
This bill:
1)Adds to the above list of recoverable fees: the fees of a
certified or registered interpreter for the deposition of a
party or witness who does not proficiently speak or understand
the English language.
2)Makes other technical and nonsubstantive changes.
Background
The California Code of Civil Procedure permits various costs to
be recovered by a prevailing party, as specified, including
certain costs relating to depositions. Until a few years ago,
there was no provision expressly providing for the recovery of
any costs for court interpreters provided to non-English
speakers in civil cases. In 2011, AB 1403 (Committee on
Judiciary, Chapter 409, Statutes of 2011), created a limited
remedy by providing for recovery of costs for qualified court
interpreters authorized by the court for indigent non-English
speakers who are represented by a qualified legal services
project, as specified. Following AB 1403, in 2012 AB 2684
(Committee on Judiciary, Chapter 758, Statutes of 2012) was
enacted to add that court interpreter fees can be recovered by a
prevailing party for a qualified court interpreter authorized by
the court for an indigent non-English speaker who is represented
by a pro bono attorney, as defined. More recently, legislation
has been enacted to recognize the right of non-English speakers
and limited-English speakers to interpreters in civil actions
and proceedings, free of cost, regardless of the parties'
income. (See AB 1657, Gomez, Chapter 721, Statutes of 2014.)
This bill now ensures that costs for providing a certified or
registered interpreter for a non-English or limited English
speaker in a deposition are also recoverable by a prevailing
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Page 4
party.
Comment
As stated by the author:
Although existing law makes the cost of taking, video
recording, and transcribing necessary depositions, and related
travel costs, specifically reimbursable, it does not mention
interpreter fees related to the conduct of the deposition.
Interpreter fees are allowed as a reimbursable cost under
existing law only when the party is both indigent and
represented by either a legal services organization or a pro
bono attorney (and not even when the party is indigent and
representing him- or herself). Therefore, interpreter fees in
depositions are reimbursable only in the court's discretion
pursuant to paragraph (c)(4) of the section.
At worst, because of the strict limitation on reimbursement of
interpreter fees, existing law can be read to discourage
reimbursement of those fees incurred in deposition. At best,
the cost of interpreters for non-English speaking deponents
and parties must be pleaded as an additional element of costs,
with no guarantee they will be reimbursed.
AB 1002 will help increase access to justice for
non-English-speaking Californians by making interpreter fees
incurred during the taking of necessary depositions a
reimbursable cost under [Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) Sec.]
1033.5. [ . . . ]
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/19/15)
AB 1002
Page 5
Conference of California Bar Associations (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/19/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Linder, Medina
Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
6/19/15 14:34:24
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