Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.37 · Chapter 3. Attorneys
Nondisclosure of attorney assistance in preparation of court documents
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Nondisclosure
In a civil proceeding, an attorney who contracts with a client to draft or assist in drafting legal documents, but not to make an appearance in the case, is not required to disclose within the text of the documents that he or she was involved in preparing the documents.
(b) Attorney's fees
If a litigant seeks a court order for attorney's fees incurred as a result of document preparation, the litigant must disclose to the court information required for a proper determination of the attorney's fees, including:
(1) The name of the attorney who assisted in the preparation of the documents;
(2) The time involved or other basis for billing;
(3) The tasks performed; and
(4) The amount billed.
(c) Application of rule
This rule does not apply to an attorney who has made a general appearance in a case.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
Rule 3.37 adopted effective January 1, 2007.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_37
- Text hash
- sha256 3db5a1863376ff5fc275fb5174e480976fa0bd784999cc3a434afd3126501f99
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
Cited by 2 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.37. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.