CHAPTER _______

An act to add Section 1282.5 to the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to arbitration.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1007, Wieckowski. Arbitration: transcription by certified shorthand reporter.

Existing law establishes standards for arbitration, and requires a court to vacate an arbitration award if it makes certain findings.

This bill would provide that a party to an arbitration has the right to have a certified shorthand reporter transcribe any deposition, proceeding, or hearing as the official record. The bill would require a party requesting a certified shorthand reporter to make his or her request in a demand, response, answer, or counterclaim related to the arbitration, or at a pre-hearing scheduling conference at which a deposition, proceeding, or hearing is being calendared. The bill would also require the party requesting the transcript to incur the expense of the certified shorthand reporter, except as specified in a consumer arbitration. The bill would authorize a party whose request has been refused by the arbitrator to petition the court for an order to compel the arbitrator to grant the party’s request to have a certified shorthand reporter transcribe any deposition, proceeding, or hearing, and for an order to stay any deposition, proceeding, or hearing pending the court’s determination of the petition.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 1282.5 is added to the Code of Civil Procedure, to read:

1282.5.  

(a) (1) A party to an arbitration has the right to have a certified shorthand reporter transcribe any deposition, proceeding, or hearing. The transcript shall be the official record of the deposition, proceeding, or hearing.

(2) A party requesting a certified shorthand reporter shall make his or her request in or at either of the following:

(A) A demand for arbitration, or a response, answer, or counterclaim to a demand for arbitration.

(B) A pre-hearing scheduling conference at which a deposition, proceeding, or hearing is being calendared.

(b) If an arbitration agreement does not provide for a certified shorthand reporter, the party requesting the transcript shall incur the expense of the certified shorthand reporter. However, in a consumer arbitration, a certified shorthand reporter shall be provided upon request of an indigent consumer, as defined in Section 1284.3, at the expense of the nonconsumer party.

(c) If an arbitrator refuses to allow a party to have a certified shorthand reporter transcribe any deposition, proceeding, or hearing pursuant to this section, the party may petition the court for an order to compel the arbitrator to grant the party’s request. The petition may include a request for an order to stay any deposition, proceeding, or hearing related to the arbitration pending the court’s determination of the petition.

(d) This section does not add grounds for vacating an arbitration award pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1286.2 or for correcting an arbitration award pursuant to Section 1286.6.

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