Complex Litigation Program — Overview and assignment procedure
Source & version
Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles · checked 2026-08-31
Court program overview includes assignment screening and Judicial Council coordination. No page revision date is shown. Current CRC and LASC rules control; case-specific coordination orders and department instructions are not part of this collection.
OVERVIEW
Welcome to the Los Angeles Superior Court Complex Civil Litigation Program ("Complex"). Complex hears cases that require exceptional judicial supervision because they involve numerous parties with multiple claims or otherwise present complicated legal or procedural issues for adjudication. (Los Angeles Superior Court Local Court, rule 3.3(k); California Rules of Court ("C.R.C"), rule 3.403).
Any party filing a new lawsuit in Los Angeles County may request assignment to Complex by designating the case as "provisionally complex" on the Civil Cover Sheet Addendum and Statement of Location (form LACIV109) that must be filed with any new complaint. Parties assigned to an Independent Calendar Court may request reassignment to Complex by completing and filing a complex Civil Case Questionnaire (form LACIV211). The Assistant Supervising Judge, Civil Complex, pre-screens the LACIV109 and LACIV211 forms to determine whether assignment to Complex is appropriate under C.R.C. 3.403.
In addition to hearing all cases assigned to Complex, the Complex judges handle all personal injury asbestos cases, all class actions filed after June 1, 2012, and all Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings ("JCCP") under Code of Civil Procedures section 404 and C.R.C. 3.520 et. seq. LASC’s Assistant Supervising Judge, Civil Complex, also hears JCCP petitions to coordinate, sitting as a coordination motion judge, assigned by the Chair of the Judicial Council under Section 404.
By continuously managing the litigation, Complex judges work to promote efficiency and minimize undue expense for the parties, the lawyers and the court. For example, working closely with the parties, a Complex judge may accelerate adjudication of key issues so that the parties can evaluate the case for settlement or trial. Or, a Complex judge may hear the case in phases, deferring expensive discovery proceedings on the secondary issues that may be mooted by adjudications in earlier phases.
The links above to the right contain checklists, sample orders, outlines and other helpful materials assembled by the Complex judges as a resource for the parties appearing in their courts.