Civil

• AB 360 (Muratsuchi) This bill requires the State Bar to administer a program to coordinate pro bono civil legal assistance to veterans and their families who otherwise cannot afford legal services.

An act to add Section 6074 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to the State Bar.

• AB 383 (Chau) Creates a process by which the parties — after the meet and confer process — may request an informal discovery conference with the court to assist the parties in mediating and working through a discovery dispute.

An act to add Section 2016.080 to the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil actions.

• AB 611 (Dababneh) Authorizes a mandated reporter of elder financial abuse (an officer or employee of a financial institution) to refuse to honor a power of attorney as to an attorney-in-fact if the mandated reporter has made a report that the principal may be subject to elder financial abuse by the person exercising the power of attorney.

An act to amend Section 15630.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to elder and dependent adults.

• AB 644 (Berman) This bill requires a party that intends to file a motion to strike or a motion for judgment on the pleadings to first meet and confer with the party who filed the relevant pleading in person or by phone, according to specified timelines and procedures. This bill allows courts to order conferences of the parties after successful motions to strike or motions for judgment on the pleadings, if amended pleadings or subsequent motions in response to those pleadings are filed. This bill places certain limitations on amended pleadings or subsequent motions. This bill includes a sunset date of January 1, 2021.

An act to amend Section 472 of, and to add and repeal Sections 435.5 and 439 of, the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil procedure.

• AB 772 (Daly) Permits the State Controller to publish a specified notice regarding unclaimed property in any manner that the Controller determines to be reasonable.

An act to amend Section 1531 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to unclaimed property.

• AB 828 (Obernolte) Expands the list of allowable costs that a prevailing party may recover upon entry of judgment to include certain electronic exhibits. Specifically, this bill provides that the electronic presentation of exhibits, including costs of presentation rental equipment and electronic formatting, may be allowable costs, provided that such exhibits are reasonably helpful to aid the trier of fact.

An act to amend Section 1033.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil procedure.

• AB 1093 (Chen) This bill provides guidelines for effecting service on a person when the only address reasonably known is a private mailbox obtained through a commercial mail receiving agency.

An act to amend Section 415.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to service of process.

• AB 1159 (Chiu) Proposes to modify current state law to clarify that an attorney may provide legal advice to a person who is engaged in marijuana business in conformity with state law, without violating ethical duties or compromising the attorney-client privilege, and allowing the formation of contracts.

An act to add Section 1550.5 to the Civil Code, and to amend Section 956 of the Evidence Code, relating to cannabis.

• AB 1615 (Eduardo Garcia) Requires an attorney to attach specified forms when sending a demand letter or serving a complaint that alleges gender discrimination in the pricing of services and requires the Judicial Council and Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to develop forms and materials, accordingly.

An act to add Part 2.55 (commencing with Section 55.61) to Division 1 of the Civil Code, relating to gender discrimination.

• SB 33 (Dodd) This bill adds an additional determination to the list of exclusions from compelled arbitration. This bill provides arbitration is not compelled when the court determines that a petitioner is a specified financial institution that seeks to apply a written agreement to arbitrate, contained in a contract consented to by a consumer, to a purported contractual relationship with that consumer created fraudulently by the petitioner without the consumer’s consent and by unlawfully using the consumer’s personal identifying information.

An act to amend Section 1281.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to arbitration.

• SB 147 (Dodd) This bill clarifies the law governing guests, companions, and live-in caregivers in the mobilehome context and modifies those laws to conform with disability accommodation law.

An act to amend Sections 798.34 and 799.9 of the Civil Code, relating to mobilehome parks.

• SB 157 (Wieckowski) This bill strengthens provisions that protect the confidentiality of a person who brings a civil action alleging so-called “revenge porn” by expanding the definition of “identifying characteristic” and extending redaction requirements to discovery documents. This bill also establishes a 60 day waiting period for the public to access case files to provide plaintiffs with time to request that the records are sealed. In addition, this bill requires the Judicial Council to adopt or revise as appropriate rules and forms in order to implement this bill.

An act to amend Section 1708.85 of the Civil Code, and to amend Section 6276.12 of the Government Code, relating to privacy.

• SB 225 (Stern) This bill requires the notice, provided for in Civil Code Section 52.6, to include language indicating that victims, or those who witness trafficking, can text a special hotline to access help and services, and requires the Department of Justice to update the model notice accordingly.

An act to amend Section 52.6 of the Civil Code, relating to human trafficking.

• SB 310 (Atkins) This bill, commencing on September 1, 2018, allows incarcerated persons to petition for a name change or gender change under existing law, and requires that the petition for a name change to be noticed to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) or the county jail.

An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 1279.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to name and gender changes.

• SB 387 (Jackson) This bill provides that the amount of civil penalties for submitting a false or fraudulent claim to the state or any of its political subdivisions shall be aligned with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990.

An act to amend Section 12651 of the Government Code, relating to the False Claims Act.

• SB 496 (Cannella) This bill changes the duty of design professionals to indemnify against liability for claims, including the duty and costs to defend, an “indemnitee”—the entity granted indemnity, such as an individual, business, or non-state public agency that is the other party to a contract for professional design services.

An act to amend Section 2782.8 of the Civil Code, relating to indemnity.

• SB 543 (Morrell) Clarifies instances for when a party may serve a document by personal service.

An act to amend Sections 877.6, 2016.050, and 2034.260 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil procedure.

• SB 658 (Wiener) This bill removes some discretion from trial judges in conducting voir dire in civil cases. This bill also restructures the provisions governing such voir dire and provides certain factors that a court must consider in exercising its discretion.

An act to amend Section 222.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil actions.

• SB 755 (Beall) This bill limits a mental examination of a child, in any civil action where there is credible evidence that the child has been sexually abused, to psychological testing of no more than three hours, including any breaks. This bill only allows the examination to extend beyond three hours if the court decides to grant an extension for good cause. Additionally, this bill requires the examiner to have expertise in child abuse and trauma.

An act to amend Section 2032.020 of, and to add Section 2032.340 to the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil discovery.