§ 630.09.Motion For New Trial Or Appeal

Title 8. Of the Trial and Judgment In Civil Actions · Chapter 4.5. Voluntary Expedited Jury Trials · Enacted 2010 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026

In one sentenceSection 630.09 limits post-trial relief and appeal in an expedited jury trial to three grounds -- judicial misconduct, jury misconduct, or corruption or fraud that prevented a fair trial -- requires a timely notice of intent to move for a new trial before any appeal, and otherwise bars post-trial motions beyond costs, clerical corrections, and enforcement.

Full Text of § 630.09

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d)

(a) By agreeing to participate in the expedited jury trial process, the parties agree to waive the right to bring post-trial motions or to appeal from the determination of the matter, except as provided in this section. The only grounds on which a party may move for a new trial or appeal are any of the following:

(1) Judicial misconduct that materially affected the substantial rights of a party.

(2) Misconduct of the jury.

(3) Corruption, fraud, or other undue means employed in the proceedings of the court, jury, or adverse party that prevented a party from having a fair trial.

(b) Within 10 court days of the entry of a jury verdict, a party may file with the clerk and serve on each adverse party a notice of the intention to move for a new trial on any of the grounds specified in subdivision (a). The notice shall be deemed to be a motion for a new trial.

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (b), parties to an expedited jury trial shall not make any post-trial motions except for motions relating to costs and attorney's fees, motions to correct a judgment for clerical error, and motions to enforce a judgment.

(d) Before filing an appeal, a party shall make a motion for a new trial under subdivision (b). If the motion for a new trial is denied, the party may appeal the judgment to the appropriate court with appellate jurisdiction and seek a new trial on any of the grounds specified in subdivision (a). Parties to an expedited jury trial may not appeal on any other ground.

End

Plain-English Summary

Parties who agree to an expedited jury trial give up the ordinary right to appeal or bring post-trial motions, but three narrow grounds survive: judicial misconduct that materially affected a party's substantial rights, misconduct of the jury, or corruption, fraud, or other undue means that kept a party from getting a fair trial. Those grounds, and only those, can support a new-trial motion or an appeal.

To preserve one of those grounds, a party has ten court days from entry of the verdict to file and serve a notice of intention to move for a new trial — that notice itself is deemed the motion. Outside subdivision (b)'s three grounds, parties can't bring any other post-trial motions except the ones § 630.01 excludes from the waiver altogether: motions about costs and attorney's fees, correcting a clerical error, and enforcing a judgment.

Appeal isn't a shortcut around this process. A party has to move for a new trial under subdivision (b) first; only after that motion is denied can the party appeal, and even then the appeal is confined to the same three grounds — no other basis for appeal survives an expedited jury trial.

Frequently Asked Questions

On what grounds can a party seek a new trial after an expedited jury trial?

Only judicial misconduct materially affecting substantial rights, jury misconduct, or corruption, fraud, or undue means that prevented a fair trial.

How much time does a party have to preserve a new-trial claim?

Ten court days after entry of the jury verdict to file with the clerk and serve on each adverse party a notice of intention to move for a new trial, which itself functions as the motion.

Can a party appeal an expedited jury trial verdict directly, without first moving for a new trial?

No. Section 630.09(d) requires the party to move for a new trial first; only if that motion is denied can the party appeal, and only on the same three grounds.

What other post-trial motions remain available?

Motions relating to costs and attorney's fees, motions to correct a clerical error in the judgment, and motions to enforce a judgment.

Amendment History

Added by Stats 2010 ch 674 (AB 2284),s 2, eff. 1/1/2011.

Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from the California Legislative Information. Enacted by the California Legislature. Last verified July 28, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: expedited jury trial appeal grounds californiaexpedited jury trial new trial motion