2024 California Rules of Court
Rule 3.735. Management of short cause cases
(a) Short cause case defined
A short cause case is a civil case in which the time estimated for trial by all parties or the court is five hours or less. All other civil cases are long cause cases.
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2007.)
(b) Exemption for short cause case and setting of case for trial
The court may order, upon the stipulation of all parties or the court's own motion, that a case is a short cause case exempted from the requirements of case management review and set the case for trial.
(c) Mistrial
If a short cause case is not completely tried within five hours, the judge may declare a mistrial or, in the judge's discretion, may complete the trial. In the event of a mistrial, the case will be treated as a long cause case and must promptly be set either for a new trial or for a case management conference.
Rule 3.735 amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as rule 214 effective July 1, 2002.
Chapter 4 adopted effective July 1, 2008.