(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of this article apply to every limited civil case.
§ 91.Application of article; Exceptions
Title 1. Organization and Jurisdiction · Chapter 5.1. Limited Civil Cases · Article 2. Economic Litigation for Limited Civil Cases · Last amended 1998 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 91 defines which limited civil cases the economic litigation article’s streamlined procedures reach, excluding small claims actions and certain unlawful detainer proceedings, while letting a court excuse any case from the article’s limits on a showing that they are impractical to apply.
Full Text of § 91
(c) Any action may, upon noticed motion, be withdrawn from the provisions of this article, upon a showing that it is impractical to prosecute or defend the action within the limitations of these provisions.
Plain-English Summary
Section 90 applies the economic litigation rules to limited civil cases generally. Section 91 narrows that reach in two directions.
First, it carves out cases where these streamlined procedures wouldn’t fit: small claims actions, which already run under their own dedicated rules, and certain proceedings under the state’s unlawful detainer statutes. Second, it gives a court an escape valve for any other limited civil case — on a noticed motion, a party can show that prosecuting or defending the case within the article’s limits is impractical, and the court can withdraw the case from the article’s procedures.
That escape valve matters most in limited civil cases with unusual complexity — multiple parties, technical issues, or a real need for discovery beyond what § 94 and § 95 allow — where the streamlined rules built for a typical smaller case would get in the way of a fair trial.
Official Comment
The following official comments are published by the California Law Revision Commission (and, for a few older sections, its predecessor Code Commissioners) alongside the statute itself — not commentary from this site.
1998 Law Revision Commission Comment. Subdivision (a) of Section 91 is amended to accommodate unification of the municipal and superior courts in a county. Cal. Const. art. VI, § 5(e). It is also amended to reflect elimination of the justice court. Cal. Const. art. VI, §§ 1, 5(b). Formerly, each county had one or more municipal courts and a superior court, and economic litigation procedures applied to cases tried in the municipal courts. Now, the matters formerly triable in those courts are classified as limited civil cases. See Section 85 (limited civil cases) & Comment. By making economic litigation procedures applicable to limited civil cases, Section 91 continues the effect of former law. The former second sentence of subdivision (a), defining “amount in controversy,” is continued without substantive change in Section 85. Subdivision (b) is amended to delete the reference to former Chapter 5A (commencing with Section 116), which has been repealed. Instead, subdivision (b) now refers to Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 116.110), which contains the current small claims provisions. Subdivision (d) is deleted as obsolete.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the economic litigation discovery limits apply to small claims cases?
No. Section 91 excludes small claims actions from this article; small claims cases run under their own separate rules.
Can a limited civil case be excused from the economic litigation rules?
Yes. Section 91 lets a party bring a noticed motion showing that prosecuting or defending the case within the article’s limits is impractical, which allows the court to withdraw the case from those procedures.
Do the economic litigation rules apply to unlawful detainer proceedings?
Not to the unlawful detainer proceedings § 91 excludes. Those proceedings are governed by the state’s separate unlawful detainer statutes rather than this article.
Amendment History
Added Stats 1982 ch 1581 § 1. Amended Stats 1983 ch 102 § 1, effective June 16, 1983; Stats 1985 ch 1383 § 2; Stats 1998 ch 931 § 37 (SB 2139), effective September 28, 1998.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: economic litigation exceptions californiawithdraw limited civil case from economic litigation rules