Originally Written and Published By: Jeffrey A. Beaumont, Esq.
As you know, California is experiencing a serious financial crisis. To address it, the State has instituted severe budget cuts, reducing trial court funding by almost $615 million, or about 30% of the budget levels from only years ago. This has dramatically affected the services provided by the judicial branch statewide, but most of all in Los Angeles County. As the largest county judicial system in the State, the Los Angeles courts bear a large proportion of those budgets cuts – approximately $200 million. In response, Los Angeles courts have already eliminated over 350 staff positions and closed over 50 courtrooms, but that only adds up to about $100 million in spending cuts, leaving remaining $100 million to be covered from new fees and other sources.
This year, Los Angeles County stopped providing court reporters for civil trials; now, all parties scheduled for court trials must provide or pay for their own court reporters to obtain necessary records for appeal or otherwise. This means a large increase in up-front trial costs for litigants, and a corresponding increase in cost awards to prevailing parties, both of which are deterrents to trial.
In addition to eliminating court reporters for trials, court reporters are now available only 2 days per week for other hearings. As parties scramble to be heard on those days, the court’s motion dockets will become more crowded, and judges and court staff will be hard pressed to accommodate the parties. Hearings that can be scheduled may be treated harshly as a result – for example, motions, arguments, and entire cases may simply be thrown out on technical or legal grounds that might have previously been ignored, simply to clear the overcrowded docket. Judges may decide to severely limit the length of hearings, the issues that may be argued, or may force parties into stipulations or into ADR.
Worse yet, the State has recently announced another round of cuts to the judicial branch totaling over $400 million, which will again heavily impact Los Angeles County. This may require doubling the existing cuts in services, and possibly closing over 100 additional courtrooms. This will compound the severe delays and difficulties of obtaining legal recourse through the courts in Los Angeles County, and statewide.
To respond to these difficulties, associations must make every effort to avoid recourse to the courts. Resolve disputes informally wherever possible, through the use of IDR and ADR, before they fester into lawsuits. Scrupulously comply with the Civil Code and seek legal advice before taking risky actions. Promote transparency and a healthy relationship between the board, management, and membership. If recourse to the courts is unavoidable, the association must anticipate that justice may be delayed – maybe even for years – and the cost in legal fees may be significantly increased.