Books

The author of the publications described below is Brenda Thomas Wilson, J.D. The midyear 2018 edition of the California Calendar Key, the midyear 2015 edition of the Calendar Procedures Key (a new edition is in progress), and the 2017 Introduction to California Civil Litigation are available for purchase. An order for any book includes the latest update booklet at no charge. The page size is 8-1/2 by 11 inches, and all books have a plastic-coated black coil binding, a clear protective cover, and a water-resistant backing.

Midyear 2018 Edition of the California Calendar Key
(Superior Court Civil Litigation)

This 270-page state calendaring guide has tips, techniques, and numerous tables to help you find the timelines you need, calculate dates, and write entries. It includes a laminated calendar card (approximately 4 x 6 inches) of the most common superior court timelines and a “book tag” (click on the Book Tags link for more information) to identify it when shelved. This publication is also Part I of the Calendar Procedures Key, described below. Updated with relevant 2018 California Rules of Court (CRC), Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) amendments, and numerous references to Sacramento County Superior Court local rules, the main topics and features are:

  • Basic legal calendaring with step-by-step instructions and detailed examples
  • Superior court civil case management rules in general and Sacramento County Superior Court’s Case Management Program in particular, including a case management timetable
  • Discovery calendaring with California Electronic Discovery Act provisions, sample calendar entries, and an extensive timetable
  • Motions (with step-by-step illustrations for calendaring a motion to compel and motion for summary judgment applying CCP § 12c)
  • Alternative dispute resolution methods offered by the court, including mediation and judicial arbitration timetables
  • Pretrial calendaring with Sacramento County Superior Court’s trial setting process, jury fee timelines, and Expedited Jury Trial information
  • Alphabetized Quick Reference Key with appellate review timelines of limited civil cases to the Appellate Division of Superior Court and unlimited civil case appeals from the Superior Court to the Court of Appeal
  • Table of authorities for state statutes and rules of court for California and Sacramento

Midyear 2015 Edition of the Calendar Procedures Key
(California Civil Litigation)

If you need both state and federal calendaring information, this book is for you and is currently being revised. Part I of this 470-page combined state and federal calendaring guide contains the complete text of the 2015 edition of the California Calendar Key, described above. Part II is the federal counterpart with relevant Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), California federal district court calendaring, and e-discovery. Pending approval by Congress, the proposed FRCP amendments (including the “Duke amendments”) to become effective December 1, 2015, are identified by footnote references where relevant with the blackline-formatted text provided in the appendix. The main topics and features of the federal part are:

  • The California Electronic Discovery Act in blackline format with comparable FRCP provisions
  • Federal district court filing and calendar procedures
  • FRCP time-computation amendments
  • Federal motions and civil discovery, including Rule 502 of the Federal Rules of Evidence
  • Federal pretrial conference and case management rules
  • The latest relevant local rules of the Eastern, Northern, Central, and Southern District Courts of California
  • FRCP amendments related to electronically stored information from the 2006 amendments to the relevant proposed amendments effective December 1, 2015 (pending approval by Congress)
  • Conversion table of 2007 FRCP amendment numbers
  • Table of authorities for federal statutes and rules
  • Used as a textbook in an ABA-approved paralegal program since its first publication in 2008

2017 Edition of the Introduction to California Civil Litigation
(Emphasizing Superior Court Cases)

This 370-page book is an introduction to the basics of California civil litigation in state superior courts. Various documents and rules are discussed, with many examples based on the Sacramento County Superior Court local rules to show how the general aspects of litigation are specifically implemented through the application of both state and local rules. Liberal references also are provided to the California Code of Civil Procedure and the California Rules of Court. This edition has a general index, a comprehensive table of contents, and a table of authorities for statutes and court rules. Among the main topics and features of the book are:

  • Requirements for filing and serving documents
  • Civil case management rules, including Sacramento County Superior Court’s requirements
  • The Public Access System and alternate procedures for processing limited civil cases in Sacramento County Superior Court
  • Alternative dispute resolution, including judicial arbitration
  • Definitions of numerous foreign words and phrases, general legal terms, symbols, jargon, and acronyms
  • Basic elements of letters, boilerplate forms, and requirements for formatting “pleading” paper
  • Discovery document formatting and procedures with California Electronic Discovery Act provisions
  • Motions, including formatting, filing, service, tentative rulings, and court orders, with specific information for motions filed in Sacramento County Superior Court
  • Basic legal calendaring demystified with illustrations for calculating dates and writing entries; topics discussed in previous chapters are revisited from a calendaring perspective (excerpts from the California Calendar Key)
  • This publication is also used as a textbook

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