04/13/2020
Please review the attached revised Tentative Civil Division Emergency Reorganization Order from the Riverside Superior Court, Presiding Judge John Vineyard.
Please note that the meeting date and information has been updated and is now scheduled as follows:
Civil Update Meeting
Date: April 24, 2020
Time: 10:00 – 11:00 am
Telephone Number: 415-655-0001
Meeting Number: 288700095 #
Access Code: # (no number after the #)
Suggestions, comments, or concerns can be sent no later than Monday, April 20, 2020, at 4:30 p.m. to [email protected].
Thank you.
TENTATIVE CIVIL DIVISION EMERGENCY REORGANIZATION ORDER
In response to the State of Emergency declared by the Governor on March 4, 2020, and the orders issued by the Health Officer of the County of Riverside related to COVID-19, and in order to manage the complexities in the civil caseload of the Riverside Superior Court caused by the shutdown of most operations effective March 18, 2020, the Court makes the following Order. This Order is made pursuant to the authority granted by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, Chair of the Judicial Council of California under California Constitution, article VI, section 6; Executive Order N-38-20; Government Code section 68115; the subsequent orders of Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye dated March 17, 2020, March 20, 2020, March 23, 2020, March 30, 2020, and April 1, 2020; and pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 10.603.
This Order is applicable to all unlimited civil cases, including complex cases and petitions for writ of mandate or other extraordinary relief, except unlawful detainer actions and cases that have already completed trial or had judgment entered. The Court orders as follows:
1. All jury and court trials currently set are hereby vacated. In any case in which a trial had been set, a trial setting conference is hereby set for the same date, time, and department in which the trial had previously been set.
2. All hearings on the merits of all petitions for writ of mandate or other extraordinary relief are hereby vacated and a status conference is now set for the same date, time, and department in which the hearing had previously been set.
3. The completion date for any court-ordered mediation or judicial arbitration that had been ordered to be completed on or before July 31, 2020, shall be continued 180 days from the original completion date.
4. All Mandatory Settlement Conferences currently set are hereby vacated.
5. In all cases in which the deadline for having discovery completed under Cal. Code of Civ. Proc., §2024.020 has passed, discovery is ordered reopened under Cal. Code of Civ. Proc., §2024.050, with new deadlines established in accordance with the setting of the new trial date. This paragraph shall not apply to any case in which a Case Management Order (“CMO”) had previously been made setting forth a discovery schedule.
6. The time in which to file a responsive pleading under Cal. Code of Civ. Proc., §585 is hereby extended to 30 calendar days from the termination of the State of Emergency that was declared by the Governor of the State of California on March 4, 2020.
7. All currently set hearings on demurrers and on all pretrial motions are hereby vacated.
a. For any demurrer or motion vacated by this order, the moving party shall reserve a new date for the hearing and file the moving papers. References to previously filed documents or attempts to incorporate by reference arguments made in the vacated motion are not permitted. All opposition and reply papers shall be timely filed based on the new hearing date.
b. For any motion refiled under this Order that requires a meet and confer declaration (i.e., demurrers, motion to compel further responses), and notwithstanding any prior meet and confer efforts, the parties shall further meet and confer, and describe in a new declaration, the issues in the motion and the impact of the State of Emergency.
c. For any motion that must have been brought within a statutorily limited amount of time (such as a motion to compel further responses or a special motion to strike), the Court will deem the subsequently refiled motion as having been filed on the date the original motion was filed.
d. For any demurrer or motion vacated by this Order, any document filed in connection with the demurrer or motion, including any opposition or reply that was deemed filed or received but not filed, is hereby rejected. The Clerk of the Court shall note the rejection of the document in the case management system.
e. The Law and Motion Reservation System will reopen pursuant to this Order on May 4, 2020. Reservation dates shall commence on June 1, 2020. (These dates are subject to change.)
f. The Clerk of the Court is directed to refund the filing fee for any demurrer or motion that is refiled pursuant to this Order. 8
8. All other hearings, including but not limited to case management conferences, status conferences, and orders to show cause, remain on calendar.
9. All proposed stipulations that are inconsistent with this order are deemed moot and hereby rejected. 10. The parties may file a stipulation or ex parte application to advance a trial setting conference in order to set a trial entitled to statutory priority or for other good cause shown. Upon the filing of a stipulation or an ex parte application to advance a trial setting conference, trials with statutory priority shall be given first preference, with the second preference to court trials. This Order is deemed to be filed in every case affected by this Order.
Nothing in this Order shall be construed as prohibiting a trial department from making such orders as the Court deems necessary for case management purposes in any individual case. In the event that this Order conflicts with any other order of this Court, this Order shall control.
Suggestions, comments, or concerns can be sent no later than Monday, April 20, 2020, at 4:30 p.m. to [email protected]. In addition, a Civil Update Meeting has been scheduled for Friday, April 24th, from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. to discuss this Order.
A conference line has been scheduled for this meeting, details below: Telephone Number: 415-655-0001 Meeting number (access code): 288700095 # Access Code: # (no number after the #)
