Highway Lawsuits Grow a Record 29%

Highway disputes in California are prompting more lawsuits than ever, the state Judicial Council said Friday.

The council reported a 29% increase in the number of motor vehicle civil suits filed in Superior Court in 1985-86, record total of 82,000 such suits, the council’s annual statistical survey of the state court system said.

Overall, the council found that filings in state courts at all levels set records but that some progress was made in speeding up trial courts.

The report said filings increased by 10% in the state Supreme Court, less than 1% in the Court of Appeal, 4% in civil cases and 15% in criminal cases in Superior Court and 1% in Municipal and Justice courts.

15 Million Ticket Filings

Out of 18.1 million filings in Municipal and Justice courts, 15 million were traffic or parking tickets.

Personal injury suits in Superior Court increased 16% to 130,000. But apart from vehicle-related suits, the total actually declined by 500, the report stated.

Trial court delay, the subject of new state laws and Judicial Council rules setting timetables, showed signs of improvement.

The number of civil cases awaiting Superior Court trial at midyear statewide declined from 76,000 to 72,000, a drop of 54,000 since 1980, the report stated. Municipal Court cases awaiting trial also declined from 20,000 to 17,000.

Civil Case Speedup

A number of large counties were handling civil cases faster.

In Los Angeles County, which once had the state’s most backlogged Superior Court, the median time between the filing of papers presenting issues in a case and the start of a civil jury trial declined from 36 to 26 months, the report stated.

In Alameda County, on the other hand, the average rose from 16 to 39 months--longer than any other county.

The shortest time spans among counties with six or more Superior Court judges were four months in Stanislaus County and five months in Monterey, San Joaquin and San Mateo counties. Kern County had the second-longest delays, averaging 32 months.

144 High Court Opinions

The council also said the state Supreme Court issued 144 opinions in the 12 months ending June 30, 1986, 19 more than in the previous year. It was the court’s highest total in seven years.

The court’s output of decisions apparently was not disrupted by a stormy election campaign that began around the end of 1985 and ended last November with the defeat of Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin.

The court got a record 3,718 requests for review of lower-court rulings but granted only 278, or 7%, down from 10% the previous two years and the lowest percentage since 1979-80, the report stated.

The State Bar filed 22 recommendations to disbar lawyers, up from 12 the previous year, and 30 lawyers resigned while disciplinary proceedings were pending, up from 24 in 1984-85.