A new change to California’s Civil Discovery Act has all of the trappings of a burdensome and costly requirement for employer defendants litigating in California state court. In addition to a litany of new California employment laws discussed in prior blog posts, Governor Gavin Newsom also signed into law SB 370, which became effective on January 1, 2020. SB 370 now requires the producing party in a civil litigation to identify the specific document request number to which documents are responsive. Although this new requirement will likely increase defense costs for many employers, as we discuss below, it can also be used to help streamline document demands while providing greater opportunities to incorporate technological solutions into the discovery process.
Continue Reading The Cost and Burden of Discovery for California Employers Will Likely Increase in 2020