Civil actions: summary judgment and summary adjudication.

Existing law authorizes a party, pursuant to a specified procedure, to move for summary judgment in any action or proceeding if it is contended that the action has no merit or that there is no defense to it and to move for summary adjudication as to certain issues in the action or proceeding. Existing law requires the court to grant a motion for summary judgment if all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law, and to grant a motion for summary adjudication if the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to one or more material facts the adjudication of which will completely dispose of a cause of action, an affirmative defense, a claim for damages, or an issue of duty. In determining whether the papers show that there is no triable issue as to a material fact, existing law requires the court to consider all of the evidence set forth in the papers, except evidence to which objections have been made and sustained by the court. This bill would provide that, in granting or denying a motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication, the court need rule only on objections made to evidence that the court deems material to the disposition of the motion. The bill would also provide that objections to evidence not ruled on for purposes of the motion would be preserved for appellate review. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to the provisions. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 437c of the Code of Civil Procedure proposed by AB 1141 that would become operative only if AB 1141 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last.