Softbound - New, softbound print book.

Contents: 1 The civil justice system; 2 Commencing proceedings: Jurisdiction and parties; 3 Commencing proceedings: The practicalities; 4 How courts manage cases and make procedural decisions; 5 Defining the issues; 6 Pre-trial termination of proceedings; 7 Protecting positions until trial; 8 Gathering information; 9 Court-annexed alternative dispute resolution; 10 Offers to settle and offers to compromise; 11 Costs; 12 Appeals; 13 Enforcement and execution

This concise hornbook focuses on the material covered in a typical law school course on civil procedure, tied to no one casebook. It breaks down the subject of civil procedure along the standard lines: a brief orientation and a lengthier overview of the stages of litigation, followed by a close inspection of the major procedural problems (governing law, authority to adjudicate, former adjudication, and complex litigation), and then some reflections in conclusion. It discusses specific problems and illustrations, with the aid of generously sprinkled diagrams and special text boxes. Special attention was given to fitting the civil procedure course's main points together to form the big picture, with each topic ending in a section on the "big idea" the student is supposed to take from the topic.

The California edition expands the latest edition of the well-established treatise Understanding Civil Procedure to explore California's unique approach. Each chapter begins with the federal doctrine, followed by a section on how California approaches the topic. The book is primarily intended as a reference for law school civil procedure students in California. However, its treatment of recent developments may make it useful to some practitioners as well. The treatise is premised on the assumption that the key to understanding the principles of civil procedure is to know why: why the principles were created and why they are invoked. The treatise is written to answer these questions as it lays out the basic principles of civil procedure. It also reflects the authors' belief that students of civil procedure can understand and appreciate complex principles when they are clearly presented; teaching civil procedure does not require dumbing it down. Although they discuss important civil procedure cases in the text, thus supporting the most widely used civil procedure casebooks using these same cases, they also provide useful references to secondary sources and illustrative cases for the reader who wants to explore further.

The third edition retains the unique features of the first and second edition and incorporate all the fundamental amendments made to superior and lower court practice by the implementation of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 and the repeal of the Supreme Courts Act 59 of 1959.