LASC: ADDITIONAL JUDICIAL OFFICERS TO PRESIDE OVER SELECT PERSONAL INJURY AND UNLAWFUL DETAINER TRIALS BEGINNING JUNE 10
New Initiative Enlists the Talent, Skills, and Capacity of Cross-Trained and Experienced Trial Judges From Other Divisions to Assist in Providing Timely Access to Justice in the Civil Division
The Court is increasing its capacity for handling civil trials by enlisting the assistance of experienced trial judges across the Court to preside over certain Personal Injury (PI) and limited jurisdiction Unlawful Detainer (UD) cases assigned for trial by the Supervising Judge of the Civil Division in Department 1 beginning June 10. This initiative will assist in the expedient processing of civil cases as the Court endeavors to address civil trial backlogs created by the pandemic, judicial retirements, restructuring and judicial vacancies.
“With this initiative, the Court is leveraging scarce judicial resources across disciplines to collectively meet the needs of court users and promote timely access to justice,” said Presiding Judge Samantha P. Jessner. “Judges with extensive trial experience sit in divisions across our Court who possess the knowledge and skills to preside over jury trials no matter their assigned discipline. I appreciate the willingness of these judicial officers to volunteer to help the Civil Division and respond to the needs of the Court to bring meaning to the mission of the Court which is to serve our community by providing equal access to justice through the fair, timely and efficient resolution of all cases.”
WHAT TO EXPECT
On and after June 10, on the day set for trial and once the judicial officer sitting in the originating PI or UD department deems all parties ready for trial, the matter will be referred to Department 1 for assignment. After the assignment is made, and if no timely challenge to the “master calendar” assignment has been made or accepted in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6, the Trial Transfer Order will be issued with the “Assignment for Trial” portion completed with directions to report to the department of the assigned judge outside the Civil Division. In most cases, the parties will be ordered to report forthwith, but, in certain cases, there may be different reporting instructions. Once the trial is assigned, the judge assigned to preside over the trial will conduct the final pre-trial conference, address any motions in limine and try the case in the assigned judge’s department.
At this time, only select PI and UD cases with trial length estimates determined by the Court to be five days or fewer will be assigned to judges outside the Civil Division for trial. In addition, to ensure access to verbatim transcripts for litigants in UD Cases, UD cases will only be assigned to judges who sit in courtrooms in which electronic recording has been installed.
ABOUT THE VOLUNTEER JUDICIAL OFFICERS
Experienced trial judges from other divisions who volunteered to help the Civil Division have participated in significant cross-training regarding the fundamentals of PI and UD cases. These judges sit in departments located in various courthouses throughout Los Angeles County. A list of the judges available to preside over cases assigned from Department 1 is available below and will be available on the Civil Division webpage. This list is subject to updates and parties are encouraged to check the Civil Division webpage for “Additional Judges Hearing Civil Trials” regularly for the most current list.
You can view the full notice here.
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