Chahal v. Superior Court

California Court of Appeal Jul 6, 1999 No. No. B130010Published

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Holding. The court held that the superior court abused its discretion by transferring a personal injury action to municipal court without the required legal certainty that a verdict would not exceed the $25,000 jurisdictional minimum and without providing counsel an adequate opportunity to be heard.

Issues

Did the superior court abuse its discretion by transferring the action to municipal court without sufficient evidence that the verdict would not exceed $25,000?
Was the plaintiff denied an adequate opportunity to present facts and argument regarding the transfer?

Disposition. Peremptory writ of mandate issued.

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“A belief that a sufficient verdict is “highly unlikely” is not enough to justify a transfer; “legal certainty” is required.”

“The circumstances also demonstrate that respondent denied plaintiff’s counsel an adequate opportunity at the status conference to make a full presentation of facts and legal argument before ordering the case transferred.”

[401]Opinion

THE COURT.* The petition seeks to vacate a superior court order of March 2, 1999, transferring petitioner’s personal injury action to municipal court on the ground it could not result in a plaintiff’s verdict meeting the superior court’s $25,001 jurisdictional minimum.

The court issued notice to the parties of its intention to grant the peremptory writ in the first instance and gave real party in interest the opportunity to file plenary opposition to the petition.

Real party in interest informed the court by letter that it would not file any written opposition and that it submitted the matter on the basis of the factual allegations in the petition and its record.

We have determined that respondent committed a clear abuse of discretion. The issuance of an alternative writ and oral argument thereon would not contribute anything of significance and would only cause further delay in restoring plaintiff’s case to the proper trial court. (Alexander v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1218, 1222-1223 [23 Cal.Rptr.2d 397, 859 P.2d 96]; Ng v. Superior Court (1992) 4 Cal.4th 29, 35 [13 Cal.Rptr.2d 856, 840 P.2d 961]; Palma v. U.S. Industrial Fasteners, Inc. (1984) 36 Cal.3d 171, 180 [203 Cal.Rptr. 626, 681 P.2d 893].)

Facts.

The material facts are simple and are not in dispute.

Plaintiff filed a personal injury action in respondent court on the claim that she fell and suffered a trimalleolar fracture of her left ankle while exiting a bus on defendant’s business premises. Plaintiff attributes the injury to defendant’s negligence in allowing a slippery substance to remain on the ground where its bus passengers disembark.

A status conference was set for March 2, 1999.

The status conference questionnaires submitted by plaintiff and by defendant, respectively, state that the case should not be transferred to municipal court because the amount in controversy exceeds the municipal court’s jurisdictional limit.

Plaintiff’s status conference questionnaire further states that plaintiff had suffered a “serious ankle fracture”; that her medical expenses totaled $12,231.55 “to date,” and that she does not claim any lost earnings.

Chahal v. Superior Court

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