Third lens
What breaks, and whether it can be fixed
The question behind most searches is not what the rule is. It is what happens if you get it wrong. Every failure named anywhere on the site, sorted by whether a court can still do anything about it.
Fatal
Miss it and no court can fix it. Calendar these first, and never on a single reminder.
50 listed
- Counting 45 days and stoppingThe service-method extension is part of the deadline, not a courtesy, so a calendar entry that ignores it is short by two court days or five calendar days. ShorThe 45-day deadline to compel further
- An oral or open-ended extensionThe statutes require a writing and a specific later date. An agreement to extend "while we continue to meet and confer" satisfies neither, and Standon Co.The 45-day deadline to compel further
- Filing a notice and serving the papers laterWeinstein v. BlumbergThe 45-day deadline to compel further
- Letting the 45 days run on a motion to compel further responsesThe deadline in CCP 2030.300(c)When opposing counsel stops responding
- Relying on an extension that was never put in writingOnce the response date passes the objections are waived by statute. CCP 2030.290(a)When opposing counsel stops responding
- Asking for issue or evidence sanctions before any order compelling discovery existsNew Albertsons, Inc. v. Superior CourtWhen opposing counsel stops responding
- You let their 45 days run while arguing in correspondenceTheir window under CCP 2030.300(c)Auditing a meet and confer letter
- You said "will comply" and did not produceCCP 2031.320Auditing a meet and confer letter
- Letting a privilege question go by without objectingCCP 2025.460(a)When you cannot instruct your client not to answer
- A privilege stated loosely, or stated after the answerCCP 2025.460(a)What is actually privileged at a deposition
- Letting the fee agreement leave the tableHanna v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLCWhat is actually privileged at a deposition
- Adding a service extension to a notice of intention to move for new trialBoth CCP 1013(a)The 16-court-day motion clock
- Reserve the hearing dateNotice and filing both run backward from it.Ex parte applications
- Run the 1005(b) calculation and put the dates in the papersIf a noticed motion still works, ask for an order shortening time instead.Ex parte applications
- Delete any sanctions requestThe court cannot grant it and asking undercuts the rest.Ex parte applications
- Notice the prior court day, to the right personState the date, time, department, and every alternative form of relief. Ask whether they will oppose, and record the answer.Ex parte applications
- File all five documents, serve the papers, appearProposed order included. Service is separate from notice.Ex parte applications
- Quietly deleting the allegation that is causing the problemThe sham pleading doctrine lets the court notice the earlier version and disregard the inconsistency, and where no explanation is offered it may sustain withoutWhat a demurrer can and cannot reach
- Assuming a ground the trial court ignored is goneAn order sustaining a demurrer will be affirmed if any ground properly specified in the demurrer supports it, whether or not the trial court relied on it. CantuWhat a demurrer can and cannot reach
- Filing the 128.7 or 128.5 motion without serving it 21 days firstCCP 128.7(c)(1)Sanctioning obstructive opposing counsel
- Supporting any motion with something said in a mediationEvid. Code 1119(a)Sanctioning obstructive opposing counsel
- Letting the five years runCCP 583.360(a)The five-year rule
- Relying on a stipulation that waived a different deadlineA stipulation dropping the case from the calendar and waiving the two-year discretionary period does not extend the five-year period. MartinThe five-year rule
- Relying on the other side's depositCCP 631(f)(5)The jury fee deposit that waives your jury trial
- Taking the bench trial and raising it on appealTriCoastThe jury fee deposit that waives your jury trial
- Making the demand for the first time inside the mediationEvid. Code 1119(a)The policy limits demand
- A noncompliant demand where the chapter appliesCCP 999.4(a)The policy limits demand
- No acceptance provision in the offerMostafavi Law GroupCCP 998 offers to compromise
- An unapportioned offer to multiple partiesMeissnerCCP 998 offers to compromise
- Offering the exact number you think the case is worthShain v. City of AlbanyCCP 998 offers to compromise
- Using a shared demand offensively at the good faith settlement hearingLong Beach Memorial Medical Center v. Superior CourtSharing a demand with a co-defendant
- Filing the memorandum after the fifteen daysSanabria v. EmbreyThe memorandum of costs, and the motion to tax
- Claiming a discretionary award on the cost memorandumNeeble-Diamond v. Hotel California By the Sea, LLCThe memorandum of costs, and the motion to tax
- Letting the fifteen days to move to tax runRule 3.1700(b)(4): after the time for a motion to strike or tax has passed, "the clerk must immediately enter the costs on the judgment." As Neeble-DiamondThe memorandum of costs, and the motion to tax
- Assuming relation backNorgart v. Upjohn Co.Amending a complaint: filing it vs needing leave
- Letting the 3 years run while you keep lookingOnce the CCP 583.210(a)Serving a defendant you cannot find
- Getting the order without the affidavit the statute wantsFor publication, the affidavit is a jurisdictional prerequisite and a verified complaint will not stand in for it. Skip it and the judgment is void. Olvera v. OServing a defendant you cannot find
- Treating the presentation deadline as tollableEquitable tolling does not reach Gov. Code 911.2The two six-month clocks in a public entity case
- Counting the six months to sue from receipt of the rejectionGov. Code 945.6(a)(1)The two six-month clocks in a public entity case
- Waiting for a denial letter before calendaring the 946.6 petitionThe six months runs from denial or deemed denial, not from notice of it. Rason v. Santa Barbara City Housing AuthorityThe two six-month clocks in a public entity case
- Filing the late claim application on day 366The one-year cap in Gov. Code 911.4(b)The two six-month clocks in a public entity case
- Serving the entity while the claim is still outService of the original complaint before filing an amended complaint alleging rejection is the fact that took substantial compliance off the table in Harland v.Suing a public entity before the claim is rejected
- Dismissing without prejudice and refiling after rejectionHarlandSuing a public entity before the claim is rejected
- Running the continuing-tort argument as tollingThe presentation deadline is not a statute of limitations and equitable tolling does not reach it. Willis v. City of CarlsbadSuing a public entity before the claim is rejected
- The State Bar referralIf sanctions issue, the clerk forwards the opinion. Bus. & Prof. Code 6086.7(a)(3)You cited a hallucinated case. Now what?
- Missing the 30-day self-reportA separate 6068(o)(3)You cited a hallucinated case. Now what?
- The five-year date passes on your watchDismissal under CCP 583.360(a)Substituting into a case before trial
- The 473(b) six months runs out while you investigateMandatory relief from a default, default judgment or involuntary dismissal requires the application within 6 months of entry of judgment. Nothing tolls it for aSubstituting into a case before trial
- Substituting in, then deciding the date is unworkable and getting outAn attorney who voluntarily abandons a case without good cause is denied compensation, and Estate of FalcoSubstituting into a case before trial
- An hourly charging lien that skipped rule 1.8.1Fletcher v. DavisSubstituting into a case before trial
Curable
Relief exists, but only on a showing you have to be in a position to make later.
36 listed
- A thin meet and confer or a defective separate statementObregonThe 45-day deadline to compel further
- A meet and confer declaration built entirely out of emailCCP 2016.040When opposing counsel stops responding
- You confirmed completeness in a letter instead of a verified responseA letter amends nothing and withdraws nothing, and it will still be read into the record at the hearing. Serving verified amended responses under CCP 2030.310Auditing a meet and confer letter
- You supplemented under the statute they named rather than the one that appliesAnswering an interrogatory as though CCP 2031.230Auditing a meet and confer letter
- Instructing the client not to answer because the question is irrelevantStewartWhen you cannot instruct your client not to answer
- Announcing you are stopping the deposition without demanding suspensionCCP 2025.470When you cannot instruct your client not to answer
- Asking a plaintiff about sexual conduct without the orderCCP 2017.220(a)When you cannot instruct your client not to answer
- Instructing on relevance, materiality or admissibilityThose objections are unnecessary and are never waived, CCP 2025.460(c)What is actually privileged at a deposition
- Adding section 1013 days to your opposition deadlineCCP 1005(b)The 16-court-day motion clock
- Counting the mail extension from the hearing dateCCP 12c(b)The 16-court-day motion clock
- Arguing the merits of a short-noticed motion and then complaining about noticeCarlton v. QuintThe 16-court-day motion clock
- Build the notice declaration from rule 3.1204(b), item by itemSix facts and a timing representation.Ex parte applications
- Arguing the court cannot look at its own docketEvid. Code 452(d)What a demurrer can and cannot reach
- Requesting judicial notice without attaching anythingEvid. Code 453What a demurrer can and cannot reach
- Bringing obstructive discovery conduct under section 128.5CCP 128.5(e)Sanctioning obstructive opposing counsel
- Assuming a stay you agreed to has been tolling the clockGaines v. Fidelity National Title Ins. Co.The five-year rule
- Counting on courtroom unavailability to tollOswald v. Landmark Builders, Inc.The five-year rule
- Paying lateWaiver attaches under CCP 631(f)(5)The jury fee deposit that waives your jury trial
- Sloppy execution once the carrier says yesBirdsall v. HelfetThe policy limits demand
- A token offer, or one served before they could evaluate itLicudineCCP 998 offers to compromise
- Assuming a pre-trial settlement or a dismissal ends the analysisMadrigal v. Hyundai Motor AmericaCCP 998 offers to compromise
- Refusing on a waiver theory, or sharing on oneBoth directions misread SimmonsSharing a demand with a co-defendant
- Reaching for 1152 and 1154 while 1119 is still availableThey bar particular uses at trial; they do not bar discovery or disclosure, and arguments built on them invite carve-outs the 1119 scheme does not have. While tSharing a demand with a co-defendant
- Letting the recipient put the mediation in front of a later tribunalThis is what Evid. Code 1128Sharing a demand with a co-defendant
- Assuming a service extension bought you time on your own memorandumRule 3.1700(b)(1) extends the objector's period for mail under CCP 1013The memorandum of costs, and the motion to tax
- Reading leave-to-amend after a demurrer as leave to do anythingLe Mere v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist.Amending a complaint: filing it vs needing leave
- Quietly deleting the allegation that is killing youDeveny v. Entropin, Inc.Amending a complaint: filing it vs needing leave
- A publication order missing the 415.50(b) mailing clauseThe order has to direct mailing if the address turns up before publication ends. Without the clause the order is defective on its face, and 4 weeks of newspaperServing a defendant you cannot find
- Citing the pre-2022 numbering of sections 911.6 and 946.6SB 501 renumbered the mandatory-relief grounds. Section 946.6(c)(4) is now total incapacity, not death of the claimant. Reading the current subdivision text catThe two six-month clocks in a public entity case
- Presenting a claim you did not need to presentNo claim is required for inverse condemnation under article I, section 19. Gov. Code 905.1The two six-month clocks in a public entity case
- Citing Bahten for amendment curing prematurityBahten v. County of MercedSuing a public entity before the claim is rejected
- Arguing the defect is jurisdictional, or conceding that it isIt is not. BoddeSuing a public entity before the claim is rejected
- The false statement itselfRule 3.3 gives you the correction. Del BiaggioYou cited a hallucinated case. Now what?
- Your briefShayanYou cited a hallucinated case. Now what?
- Assuming a continued trial date reopened discoveryCCP 2024.020(b)Substituting into a case before trial
- Disbursing settlement funds over an asserted lienA third party who impairs an attorney's rights under a valid charging lien can be liable for tortious interference. Little v. Amber Hotel Co.Substituting into a case before trial
Strategic
Nothing is lost by getting it wrong except the position you wanted to be in.
12 listed
- Going ex parte because you ran out of timeA court will not grant ex parte relief in any but the plainest and most certain of cases, and should deny an application absent the affirmative factual showing When opposing counsel stops responding
- They cited the wrong response numbersCorrect it in writing and invite them to identify what they still contend is deficient. If a motion follows, the separate statement exposes the mismatch on its Auditing a meet and confer letter
- A privacy instruction on a marginal subjectJohn B.What is actually privileged at a deposition
- Building an opposition around the other side's meet and confer failureCCP 430.41(a)(4)What a demurrer can and cannot reach
- Asking for a monetary sanction on the court's inherent powerBauguess v. PaineSanctioning obstructive opposing counsel
- Forgetting the daily deposit once trial startsCCP 631(f)(6)The jury fee deposit that waives your jury trial
- Conditions the carrier could not perform, on a clean claim historyHedayatiThe policy limits demand
- Only ever trying the designated agentFor a corporation, the 1702(a) affidavit can be made on the 415 hand-service methods or on failed service under CCP 416.10Serving a defendant you cannot find
- Expecting the 911.3 waiver to protect a property or contract claimSection 911.3 reaches only six-month-tier claims. Westcon Construction Corp. v. County of SacramentoThe two six-month clocks in a public entity case
- Answering Harland with relation backRelating the amended pleading back to the original filing date makes the prematurity worse rather than better, because the original filing is the thing that wasSuing a public entity before the claim is rejected
- Your name in a published opinionEvery one of these decisions names the lawyer. The $1,500 is not the expensive part.You cited a hallucinated case. Now what?
- No substitution on file while you work the caseYou have no standing to appear or file, and under CCP 285Substituting into a case before trial