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California Pre-Lawsuit Settlement Period Initiative (2022)
| California Pre-Lawsuit Settlement Period Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Tort law | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The California Pre-Lawsuit Settlement Period Initiative (#21-0029) was not on the ballot in California as an initiated state statute on November 8, 2022.
The ballot initiative would have created a 60-day period for injured consumers to settle before initiating a lawsuit. The ballot initiative would have also limited attorney contingency fees to 20% of the amount recovered in a lawsuit.[1]
Text of the measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[2]
| “ |
Requires Pre-lawsuit Notice and Limits Plaintiffs’ Attorneys’ Contingency Fees in Consumer Protection and Tort Cases. Initiative Statute.[3] |
” |
Petition summary
The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Requires plaintiffs to provide 60 days’ notice and opportunity to settle before filing lawsuits for tort claims (for example, personal injury, product liability, negligence) or certain consumer-protection violations (for example, unfair competition, false advertising, warranty). Limits contingency fees that attorneys can charge prevailing plaintiffs in these cases to 20% of amount recovered. For specified consumer-protection claims, limits court-ordered attorneys’ fee awards to 20% of amount recovered. Does not restrict fee arrangements for defendants’ attorneys.[3] |
” |
Fiscal impact
The fiscal impact statement would have been as follows:[2]
| “ |
Unknown net impact on state courts that would depend primarily on how attorneys, plaintiffs, and defendants respond to this measure, as well as how the measure is interpreted and implemented by the courts.[3] |
” |
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in California
In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Petitions are allowed to circulate for 180 days from the date the attorney general prepares the petition language. Signatures need to be certified at least 131 days before the general election. As the verification process can take multiple months, the secretary of state provides suggested deadlines for ballot initiatives.
The requirements to get initiated state statutes certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 623,212 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was 131 days before the general election, which was around June 30, 2022. However, the process of verifying signatures can take multiple months and proponents are recommended to file signatures at least two months before the verification deadline.
Signatures are first filed with local election officials, who determine the total number of signatures submitted. If the total number is equal to at least 100 percent of the required signatures, then local election officials perform a random check of signatures submitted in their counties. If the random sample estimates that more than 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, the initiative is eligible for the ballot. If the random sample estimates that between 95 and 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, a full check of signatures is done to determine the total number of valid signatures. If less than 95 percent are estimated to be valid, the initiative does not make the ballot.
Initiative #21-0029
Kyla Christoffersen Powell filed the ballot initiative on October 6, 2021.[2] The Attorney General of California issued ballot language for the initiative on December 14, 2021, allowing a signature drive to begin. Signatures were due on June 13, 2022.
On June 28, the secretary of state reported the initiative failed to qualify for the ballot.[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ California Attorney General, "Initiative 21-0029," October 4, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 California Secretary of State, "Initiatives and Referenda Cleared for Circulation," accessed December 10, 2021 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "sos" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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State of California Sacramento (capital) |
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