Motion to Compel Discovery: Verified Responses Required to Start the 45 Day Deadline Countdown

Without much fanfare, an important amendment was recently made to the Discovery Act.  In the past, the deadline for filing a notice of motion for a motion to compel further discovery was always 45 days after service of the discovery responses.  However, the Discovery Act had been unclear as to whether the 45 day time period started when verified responses were served, or when merely unverified responses were served.  Under Appleton v. Superior Court, 206 Cal.App.3d 632, 636 (1988), unverified responses were considered the equivalent of no responses at all, so the state of the law was unclear as to when the 45 day countdown began because it was unclear if the 45 day countdown started only once a verification was received.

Now, it is confirmed that the 45 day deadline does not start counting down until verified responses are served.  Senate Bill AB 1183 amended Code of Civil Procedure Sections 2030.300(c), 2031.310(c), and 2033.290(c) to reflect that motions to compel further responses from interrogatories, inspection demands, or requests for admissions do not need to be filed until 45 days after verified responses are served.

Link to codes: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=02001-03000&file=2030.210-2030.310