First CCBA Bills of 2012 Signed Into Law

The first of hopefully many bills sponsored by the Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) were signed into law Tuesday, July 10, by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.  The two measures are AB 1727 by Assemblymember Jim Silva and AB 2106 by Assemblymember Don Wagner.

Assm. Silva

Barry Besser

AB 1727 is based on CCBA Resolution 12-03-2011, which was developed by Barry Besser, Esq., and sponsored by the Orange County Bar Association.  The bill amends Family Code §5240 to specifically permit support obligors to bring ex parte motions or orders to show cause to terminate an assignment order following the death of the supported spouse or child, or under other specified circumstances in which an ex parte application for relief is appropriate. The current statutory language has been held to require noticed motions - which can take weeks or months - to terminate such orders, during which time an employer cannot cease taking funds from an employee's paycheck, even though the supported spouse or child for whom the money is being taken is deceased. AB 1727 cures this unfair anomaly, while maintaining all needed protections for supported spouses or children.

Assm. Wagner

Jay-Allen Eisen

AB 2106 contains two resolutions developed by appellate attorney Jay-Allen Eisen and sponsored by the Sacramento County Bar Association.  The bill will clarify existing law in two ways:  First, it would amend CCP §659 to make clear that, when filing the motion for a new trial before the entry of judgment, the filing must be done after the decision is rendered, thereby removing a major trap for the unwary practitioner (CCBA Resolution 13-08-2009).  Second, the bill would amend CCP §663a to make clear that time limit a court has to rule on a motion to set aside and vacate a judgment is the same as the time limit provided for new trial motions under CCP §660 (CCBA Resolution 07-04-2011).

The two bills are part of 24 bills sponsored or supported by the CCBA as part of the 2012 CCBA Legislative Program. Fourteen of the 22 remaining bills are still under consideration by the Legislature at this time, and at least 10 (and hopefully a couple more) stand a good to excellent chance of being sent to the Governor when the Legislature returns from its Summer recess on August 6 for the last intense month of session activity.

Governor Signs CCBA Protective Order Notice Bill

Governor Jerry Brown Monday (July 25) signed into law AB 454 by Assemblymember Jim Silva, the third bill sponsored by the Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) to reach his desk.

AB 454 increases the protection provided by California’s restraining order law by requiring that the protected party be given prior notice of any hearing to modify or terminate a restraining order.  Notice must be provided either by by personal service or, if the protected party is registered with the Safe at Home Program, by service on the Secretary of State.  If the protected party cannot be notified prior to the hearing, the court must either deny the motion to modify or terminate the order without prejudice or continue the hearing until the protected party is properly noticed. A protected party may waive his or her right to notice if he or she is physically present in court at the time of the hearing and does not challenge the sufficiency of the notice.

As the CCBA noted in its letter urging Governor Brown to sign the bill, restraining orders are issued specifically to provide protection for some individuals from violence or the threat of violence by others. Because these circumstances involve a heightened potential for physical danger and death, the notice requirements for terminating or reducing the protection provided by these orders early should be heightened as well, to ensure to the extent possible that protected parties receive actual notice. AB 454 would help accomplish this important goal.

AB 454 came out of CCBA Resolution 05-07-2009, which was sponsored by the Women Lawyers of Sacramento.  Originally introduced to apply only to protective orders issued under the Family Code, AB 454's provisions were expanded to make the protections applicable to all parties protected by a civil protective order - including family, civil harassment, workplace harassment, postsecondary education harassment, juvenile, and elder and dependent adult abuse protective orders.  This provides consistency through the various codes, and is also indicative of the merit the Legislature perceived in the original proposal.

The bill passed both houses of the Legislature without a 'No' vote, and was supported by:

• California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
• Chief Probation Officers of California
• California National Organization for Women (CA NOW)
• Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of California (FLEXCOM)
• California Commission on the Status of Women (CCSW)
• California Probation Parole and Correctional Association (CPPCA)

AB 454 is now Chapter 101, Statutes of 2011, and will take effect January 1, 2012.

First 2011 CCBA Bill Signed into Law

Assemblymember Jim Silva

Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., has signed into law the first CCBA-sponsored bill to cross his desk since he took office. Last Friday, July 1, Brown gave his approval of AB 354 by Assemblymember Jim Silva, which eliminates an ambiguity in existing law by clarifying that a person who has, in bad faith, used undue influence or committed elder financial abuse to steal from the estate of a decedent, conservatee, minor, or trust, is liable for damages equal to twice the value of the property taken.

AB 354, which passed both houses of the Legislature without a dissenting vote, is based on Resolution 06-04-2010 by the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills bar associations.  There is no chapter number yet, presumably due to the intervening holiday weekend, but the signing is noted on the Governor's web site.

CCBA Bills Clear Senate Judiciary Committee

The second-house phase of the legislative process began this week, as Senate policy committees started serious consideration of Assembly bills and vice-versa. Three bills sponsored by the Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) were among the bills first to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee at its June 7 hearing, and all three were approved and passed to the Senate Floor, where they should be heard next week.

Only one of the three measures generated any controversy: AB 433, by Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), which would remove unnecessary impediments in the legal processes for obtaining a judgment relating to change of gender and, for California citizens, a revised birth certificate reflecting that change. The bill, which is co-sponsored by the Transgender Law Center, Equality California and the CCBA (Resolution 04-12-2010, by the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom), was approved on a vote of 4-1.

AB 454 by Assemblymember Jim Silva (based on Resolution 05-07-2009 by the Women Lawyers of Sacramento), which would require that the party protected by a civil protective or restraining order be given prior notice, as specified, of any hearing to modify or terminate the order by personal service, was approved by the committee on a unanimous 5-0 vote.

And AB 354, also by Assemblymember Silva, was approved on the committee's Consent Calendar. AB 354 (based on Resolution 06-04-2010 by the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills bar associations), would provide that when a person has taken, concealed, or disposed of the real or personal property of a conservatee, minor, estate of a decedent, or trust by the use of undue influence in bad faith or through the commission of elder or dependent adult financial abuse, the person is liable for twice the value of the property recovered in a conservatorship, guardianship, estate, or trust proceeding.

All three measures are currently on track to obtain all necessary votes and be sent to Governor Brown for signature before the Legislature is scheduled to break for its summer recess in July.