Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.826 · Chapter 2. Judicial Arbitration
Trial after arbitration
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Request for trial; deadline
Within 60 days after the arbitration award is filed with the clerk of the court, a party may request a trial by filing with the clerk a request for trial, with proof of service of a copy upon all other parties appearing in the case. A request for trial filed after the parties have been served with a copy of the award by the arbitrator, but before the award has been filed with the clerk, is valid and timely filed. The 60-day period within which to request trial may not be extended.
(b) Prosecution of the case
If a party makes a timely request for a trial, the case must proceed as provided under an applicable case management order. If no pending order provides for the prosecution of the case after a request for a trial after arbitration, the court must promptly schedule a case management conference.
(c) References to arbitration during trial prohibited
The case must be tried as though no arbitration proceedings had occurred. No reference may be made during the trial to the arbitration award, to the fact that there had been arbitration proceedings, to the evidence adduced at the arbitration hearing, or to any other aspect of the arbitration proceedings, and none of the foregoing may be used as affirmative evidence, or by way of impeachment, or for any other purpose at the trial.
(d) Costs after trial
In assessing costs after the trial, the court must apply the standards specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 1141.21.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2012; previously amended effective January 1, 1985, July 1, 1990, January 1, 2004, and January 1, 2007.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective January 1, 2004.)
(Subd (c) amended effective January 1, 2004.)
(Subd (d) amended effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective July 1, 1979, and January 1, 2004.)
Rule 3.826 amended effective January 1, 2012; adopted as rule 1616 effective July 1, 1976; previously amended effective July 1, 1979, July 1, 1990, and January 1, 2004; previously amended and renumbered 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_826
- Text hash
- sha256 a3131af8582cf1ce2a744c4fa95994fec5dbe9d8a2f971c4daa03a366305811a
- 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
BenchPath cards that rely on this text
This rule cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Code of Civil Procedure
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.