Bill to curb civil backlogs now and in the future passes committee

The Assembly Judiciary Committee passed a bill designed to help courts deal with backlogs caused by the coronavirus-related shutdowns -- and potentially future emergencies as well.

SB 1146 aims to codify procedures for remote service and depositions, and enable the Judicial Council to adopt rules of court to implement these policies. It would also extend discovery deadlines to 180 days after the expiration of Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 state of emergency.

The bill is intended to help courts use technology to address a backlog that has especially affected civil cases.

Unlike most bills taken up during a contentious three-hour hearing on Wednesday, SB 1146 passed with bipartisan support. The closest the debate came to fireworks was an extended procedural discussion between two lawyers: the bill's author, Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City.

The pair spent several minutes parsing the procedure for when a party receives an imperfect recording and when a court reporter might need to be physically present, with Umberg offering to make clarifying amendments.

The committee analysis stated the bill would accelerate a preexisting trend "to digitize many aspects of the practice of the law and utilize technology to streamline the discovery process."

In a news release, the consumer attorneys group president, Micha Star Liberty, said SB 1146 "won't just help now, but far into the future."

Committee members of both parties also came together to pass SB 592. Dubbed the Fair Juries Act, it would call on juries to be drawn from the lists of tax filers. The bill's author, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, has argued this would lead to more diverse and representative juries than the current system, which draws on driver's licenses and voter rolls. -- Malcolm Maclachlan