New state Senate Judiciary chair likes to get into the weeds

Sen. Thomas J. Umberg, the new chair of the California Senate Judiciary Committee, likes getting in the weeds, such as figuring out how to lessen the costs of discovery.

Umberg said the committee will have pressing business when the new legislative session starts in earnest on Jan. 4.

“The first priority is addressing what Covid has done to our system of civil justice in California,” Umberg said in an interview. “Trials are delayed. Courts are operating at skeleton status.”

“As the civil justice system is challenged, more people are turning to alternative dispute resolution, which can be incredibly expensive and may leave some parties out in the cold,” he said.

Many of the problems with courts go back long before the pandemic brought them to wide public attention, said Umberg, who is an attorney as well as a Democratic representative for Santa Ana in the Legislature.

“The cost and the time consumed in discovery are overwhelming the civil litigation process,” Umberg said. “One of the things I will focus on and have focused on is reducing the gamesmanship and the costs that are currently part and parcel of discovery.”

The committee will be very “nuts and boltsy” under his watch, he added. Over the past two years, Umberg has put forward several civil process bills.

In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Umberg’s SB 1146. This bill codified rules designed to make it easier for parties to do service, appearances and depositions remotely. It was co-sponsored by the California Defense Counsel and the Consumer Attorneys of California. The California Court Reporters Association opposed the bill because they said it could lead to deposition work being outsourced to out-of-state companies, but it passed without receiving a single no vote.

In 2019, Newsom signed two Umberg bills designed to improve the discovery process. SB 17 put a 45-day clock on a party’s initial response to a discovery order and imposed sanctions on those who don’t comply. SB 370 requires discovery documents be labeled by request number.

So far this year, he’s put forward three bills on elections and another on genetic privacy. But Umberg said he will write legislation around legal documents and possibly a bill involving court reporters.

Umberg won’t run the committee longer than his predecessor Hannah-Beth Jackson, who termed out this year after leading the committee since 2014.

He could come close though. He’s one of just a few legislators serving under the old term limits system that preceded the passage of Proposition 28 in 2012. While most of his colleagues will only be able to serve 12 years total, Umberg can run for a final four-year term in 2022, or 14 years total. Two years ago, he narrowly unseated Republican Janet Nguyen in a race not called until three weeks after election day.

In fact, Umberg is in his third stint in the Legislature, having served in the Assembly from 1990 to 1994 and again from 2004 to 2006. His time in Sacramento predates other veteran legislators who returned after absences, such as Senators John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys.

Hertzberg and Umberg have something else in common. Both are in their 60s and had extensive legal careers prior to taking office. In an interview, Hertzberg praised Umberg, Jackson and Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, as “real lawyers” who have argued cases in court.

A former Army officer, Umberg prosecuted terrorism cases and led anti-corruption efforts in Afghanistan. He was also a partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP.

Umberg is now part of Umberg Zipser LLP, a commercial litigation firm in Irvine, though he said his legislative work limits his time in that role.

“I still practice law, though my partners don’t admit to that,” he joked.