Litigation Quiz

This quiz is based on California Code of Civil Procedure as of July 2007. Rules vary and change.  Always review local rules before calendaring any deadline or preparing any document for filing with the court.   The court can impose sanctions for failure to follow local rules.

A party bringing suit and filing a complaint is not the Plaintiff.

A memorandum of points and authorities that exceeds 10 pages shall include a table of contents and table of authorities. 

Summary judgment motions require a separate statement from both moving and opposing parties. (If lacking, court may deny motion on that basis alone.)

A memorandum of Points & Authorities is limited to a maximum of 15 pages (both moving and opposing).

A memorandum of points & authorities in a Summary Judgment Motion    should not exceed 20 pages.

Moving and supporting papers must be served and filed at least 16 court days before the time appointed for hearing.

Opposing papers must be served and filed at least nine court days before the time appointed for hearing.

Reply papers must be served and filed at least five court days before the hearing.

A continuance or postponement of the trial date does not operate to reopen discovery proceedings, unless the court grants a motion.

Attorneys must comply with all “good faith meet and confer” requirements of the California Discovery Act of 1986 and the California Code of Procedure.

Discovery is considered completed on the day a response is due or on the day a deposition begins.

A Notice of Deposition is filed with the court.

Except for exhibits, each paper filed with the court must bear a county seal in the bottom margin or each page, placed below the number and divided from the rest of the document page by a printed line.

"Blue Book" refers to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by Harvard Law Review and explains the rules for citing national and international authority. 

Party names are never italicized or underlined in a citation.

Effective with motions filed after January 1, 2005, filing deadlines for civil law and motion papers will be governed by AB 3078, codified as an amendment to CCP 1005(b).

The abbreviation for California Code of Civil Procedure is CACCP.

"et al." or "et seq." are lower cased and neither italicized nor underlined.

Counting days - Time is computed by excluding the first day, and including the last, unless the last day is a legal holiday, and then it is also excluded.

If a date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the last day shall be the next court day closer to the trial date.