SECTIONS 575-576 - California Statutes

CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

SECTION 575-576

575. The Judicial Council may promulgate rules governing pretrial
conferences, and the time, manner and nature thereof, in civil cases
at issue, or in one or more classes thereof, in the superior courts.

575.1. (a) The presiding judge of each superior court may prepare,
with the assistance of appropriate committees of the court, proposed
local rules designed to expedite and facilitate the business of the
court. The rules need not be limited to those actions on the civil
active list, but may provide for the supervision and judicial
management of actions from the date they are filed. Rules prepared
pursuant to this section shall be submitted for consideration to the
judges of the court and, upon approval by a majority of the judges,
the judges shall have the proposed rules published and submitted to
the local bar and others, as specified by the Judicial Council, for
consideration and recommendations.
(b) After a majority of the judges have officially adopted the
rules, they shall be filed with the Judicial Council as required by
Section 68071 of the Government Code and as specified in rules
adopted by the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council shall prescribe
rules to ensure that a complete current set of local rules and
amendments, for each county in the state, is made available for
public examination in each county. The local rules shall also be
published for general distribution in accordance with rules adopted
by the Judicial Council. Each court shall make its local rules
available for inspection and copying in every location of the court
that generally accepts filing of papers. The court may impose a
reasonable charge for copying the rules and may impose a reasonable
page limit on copying. The rules shall be accompanied by a notice
indicating where a full set of the rules may be purchased.
(c) If a judge of a court adopts a rule that applies solely to
cases in that judge's courtroom, or a particular branch or district
of a court adopts a rule that applies solely to cases in that
particular branch or district of a court, the court shall publish
these rules as part of the general publication of rules required by
the California Rules of Court. The court shall organize the rules so
that rules on a common subject, whether individual, branch, district,
or courtwide appear sequentially. Individual judges' rules and
branch and district rules are local rules of court for purposes of
this section and for purposes of the adoption, publication, comment,
and filing requirements set forth in the Judicial Council rules
applicable to local court rules.

575.2. (a) Local rules promulgated pursuant to Section 575.1 may
provide that if any counsel, a party represented by counsel, or a
party if in pro se, fails to comply with any of the requirements
thereof, the court on motion of a party or on its own motion may
strike out all or any part of any pleading of that party, or, dismiss
the action or proceeding or any part thereof, or enter a judgment by
default against that party, or impose other penalties of a lesser
nature as otherwise provided by law, and may order that party or his
or her counsel to pay to the moving party the reasonable expenses in
making the motion, including reasonable attorney fees. No penalty may
be imposed under this section without prior notice to, and an
opportunity to be heard by, the party against whom the penalty is
sought to be imposed.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that if a failure to
comply with these rules is the responsibility of counsel and not of
the party, any penalty shall be imposed on counsel and shall not
adversely affect the party's cause of action or defense thereto.

576. Any judge, at any time before or after commencement of trial,
in the furtherance of justice, and upon such terms as may be proper,
may allow the amendment of any pleading or pretrial conference order.