Calendaring in California State Court by Julie A. Goren, Esq. author of Litigation By The Numbers-Fourth Edition There are usually many documents and forms prepared, served and/or filed during the course of a lawsuit, e.g., pleadings, discovery requests,  motions, notices, etc.  Usually these documents will trigger one or more deadlines (found in the California Rules of Court or the California Code of Civil Procedure) or give notice of one or more deadlines or events.  If these deadlines are not met, or if insufficient notice is given, serious problems may result. For example: Filing a complaint triggers the 60-day deadline for serving the complaint and filing proof of service with the court; failure to do so timely can result in sanctions (California Rules of Court, Rule 3.110(b) and (f)) . Serving a complaint triggers the 30-day deadline for the defendant to respond to the complaint; failure to do so timely can result in entry of the defendant's default (California Rules of Court, Rule 3.110(f)).  That 30-day deadline starts to run on the "effective date" of service of the summons and complaint.  The effective date is different for each method of service.  For example, California Code of Civil Procedure Section 415.20 provides that when service is effected by substituted service, the effective date of service is 10 days after the copies were mailed.  Where service is by mail with notice and acknowledgment of receipt, California Code of Civil Procedure Section 415.30 provides that service is effected on the date the defendant signs the Acknowledgment form.  Service of interrogatories triggers the deadline for the other party to serve its response (Code of Civil Procedure Section 2030.260); if the response is not served timely, the responding party waives its right to object to the interrogatories (Code of Civil Procedure Section 2030.290).  A specific notice period is required before a deposition may be taken; if insufficient notice is given, the deponent and/or other parties may object to the taking of the deposition.  If a party gives insufficient notice of a motion, the motion may be taken off calendar or denied.   To be sure not to miss them, all of these deadlines need to be calendared.  To calendar a single deadline in California State Court, you have to apply several different rules and codes . . . in the correct order.  Together, these rules and codes tell you:  what to calendar, how many days to calendar, how to count those days, when to count weekends and court holidays, what the court holidays are in California State Court, how to adjust the deadline depending upon the method of service, how to adjust the deadline if it falls on a weekend or court holiday . . .. It thus should come as no surprise that calendaring-related errors are the leading cause of malpractice claims in California! Warnings to calendar deadlines appear throughout Litigation By The Numbers®-Fourth Edition.  It also includes a 10-page section devoted to calendaring in California State Court, including step-by-step instructions, common pitfalls, and real life calendaring examples.  While it is simple enough for the novice, even the most experienced calendaring clerk is apt to learn something!  Click here to view excerpts! Free Calendar To correctly calendar deadlines in California, you must know our court holidays!  Download a complimentary copy of our Calendar of California Court Holidays (2010) (Appendix "E" of Litigation By The Numbers®-Fourth Edition) here.