(a) General application The rules in this chapter apply to all general civil cases filed in the trial courts except those specified in (b), (c), and (d) and except those specified types or categories of general civil cases that have been exempted from the case management rules under rule 3.720(b). (Subd (a) amended effective February 26, 2013; previously amended effective January 1, 1994, July 1, 2002, January 1, 2007, and July 1, 2007.)
Rule 3.712.Application and exceptions
Division 7. Civil Case Management · Chapter 2. Differential Case Management · Last amended 2013 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceRule 3.712 applies the case management chapter to every general civil case except uninsured motorist cases still awaiting arbitration, cases folded into a coordination petition, collections cases where no defendant has answered, and categories a court has exempted by local rule.
Full Text of Rule 3.712
(b) Uninsured motorist cases To allow for arbitration of the plaintiff’s claim, the rules in this chapter do not apply to a case designated by the court as “uninsured motorist” until 180 days after the designation. (Subd (b) amended and relettered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as subd (c); previously amended effective July 1, 2002.)
(c) Coordinated cases The rules in this chapter do not apply to any case included in a petition for coordination. If the petition is granted, the coordination trial judge may establish a case progression plan for the cases, which may be assigned for review under the case management rules in chapter 3 of this division or, after appropriate findings, for treatment as an exceptional case. (Subd (c) amended and relettered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as subd (d); previously amended effective July 1, 2002.)
Plain-English Summary
Case management rules cannot apply to every civil case in the same way, so Rule 3.712 lays out who is in and who is out. The default is broad: the case management chapter covers every general civil case filed in California's trial courts. Then the rule carves out four situations where that default does not fit.
Uninsured motorist cases get a 180-day breathing period after the court designates them as such, so the arbitration the claim is headed for has room to happen first. Cases swept into a coordination petition sit outside the ordinary case management rules entirely — if the petition is granted, the coordination trial judge sets a separate progression plan instead. Collections cases, defined elsewhere in Rule 3.740, stay outside the case management rules unless and until a defendant files a responsive pleading, since an unanswered collections case has nothing yet to manage. And a court can exempt other categories of cases by local rule under Rule 3.720(b), so long as it has alternative procedures in place for handling them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the case management rules apply to every civil case?
Not quite. Rule 3.712 applies them to general civil cases broadly, but excludes uninsured motorist cases for 180 days after designation, cases included in a coordination petition, unanswered collections cases, and categories a court has exempted by local rule.
Why are uninsured motorist cases treated differently?
To give the plaintiff's claim time to go through arbitration first. The case management rules do not apply to a case designated as an uninsured motorist case until 180 days after that designation.
What happens to case management when a case is coordinated?
The ordinary case management rules step aside. If a coordination petition covering the case is granted, the coordination trial judge can set its own case progression plan instead.
When do the case management rules start applying to a collections case?
Once a defendant files a responsive pleading. Before that, a collections case as defined in Rule 3.740(a) stays outside this chapter's case management rules.
Amendment History
Rule 3.712 amended effective February 26, 2013; adopted as rule 2103 effective July 1, 1991; previously amended and renumbered as rule 207 effective July 1, 2002, and amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective January 1, 1994, and July 1, 2007.
Source & verification. Rule text is reproduced verbatim from
the Judicial Council of California. Adopted by the Judicial Council of California.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: case management rules exceptions Californiauninsured motorist case 180 dayscoordinated case management exemptionCRC 3.712 collections case exception