Code of Civil Procedure § 1141.11

Mandatory submission; Local rule

(a) In each superior court with 18 or more judges, all nonexempt unlimited civil cases shall be submitted to arbitration under this chapter if the amount in controversy, in the opinion of the court, will not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for each plaintiff.

(b) In each superior court with fewer than 18 judges, the court may provide by local rule, when it determines that it is in the best interests of justice, that all nonexempt, unlimited civil cases shall be submitted to arbitration under this chapter if the amount in controversy, in the opinion of the court, will not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for each plaintiff.

(c) Each superior court may provide by local rule, when it is determined to be in the best interests of justice, that all nonexempt, limited civil cases shall be submitted to arbitration under this chapter. This section does not apply to any action in small claims court, or to any action maintained pursuant to Section 1781 of the Civil Code or Section 1161.

(d)

(1) In each court that has adopted judicial arbitration pursuant to subdivision (c), all limited civil cases that involve a claim for money damages against a single defendant as a result of a motor vehicle collision, except those heard in the small claims division, shall be submitted to arbitration within 120 days of the filing of the defendant’s answer to the complaint (except as may be extended by the court for good cause) before an arbitrator selected by the court.
(2) The court may provide by local rule for the voluntary or mandatory use of case questionnaires, established under Section 93, in any proceeding subject to these provisions. Where local rules provide for the use of case questionnaires, the questionnaires shall be exchanged by the parties upon the defendant’s answer and completed and returned within 60 days.
(3) For the purposes of this subdivision, the term “single defendant” means any of the following:

(A) An individual defendant, whether a person or an entity.
(B) Two or more persons covered by the same insurance policy applicable to the motor vehicle collision.
(C) Two or more persons residing in the same household when no insurance policy exists that is applicable to the motor vehicle collision.

(4) The naming of one or more cross-defendants, not a plaintiff, shall constitute a multiple-defendant case not subject to the provisions of this subdivision.

History

Added Stats 1978 ch 743 § 2, operative July 1, 1979. Amended Stats 1979 ch 46 § 1, effective May 2, 1979, operative July 1, 1979, ch 948 § 1, effective September 22, 1979, 1146 § 2, effective September 29, 1979; Stats 1981 ch 1110 § 1; Stats 1982 ch 31 § 1, effective February 17, 1982, ch 921 § 1, effective September 13, 1982, ch 1522 § 2; Stats 1983 ch 978 § 1, effective September 21, 1983; Stats 1985 ch 1383 § 3; Stats 1986 ch 287 § 1; Stats 1987 ch 1201 § 4, ch 1204 § 1; Stats 1989 ch 894 § 1; Stats 1990 ch 1305 § 9 (SB 2627); Stats 1998 ch 931 § 116 (SB 2139), effective September 28, 1998; Stats 2002 ch 784 § 78 (SB 1316); Stats 2003 ch 449 § 10 (AB 1712).

CCP 1141.11