§ 1062.5.Action By Insurer Issuing Policies of Professional Liability Insurance to Health Care Providers

This section creates a specialized declaratory relief action tied to professional liability insurance for health care providers, arising out of legislation enacted in a 1975 special legislative session. Any insurer issuing those policies, any health care provider covered by one, or any potentially aggrieved person, may sue in superior court for a declaration of rights, duties, and obligations under that statutory scheme.

The court must permit two categories of people to intervene: the Attorney General, and any other person the court determines is essential to a complete resolution of the issues in the case. The action itself is anchored to the venue where the Attorney General is required to reside and keep an office under Government Code section 1060, not this code's own § 1060.

Once filed, the action moves fast. It is set for trial at the earliest possible date and takes precedence over every case except those in which the state is a party, and an appeal from the resulting declaration gets similar priority in the appellate courts, placed immediately after state-party cases. The court's declaration, affirmative or negative, carries the force of a final judgment.

As with § 1062, the remedy here is cumulative: it does not restrict any other remedy available to a party, and no declaration issued under this section prevents a party from obtaining additional relief based on the same facts.