Opinion ID: 1253950
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Access to Evidence

Text: Finally, defendant points out that the Evidence Code section 500 rule allocating the burden of proof applies [e]xcept as otherwise provided by law and that the exception, as we have stated, `is included in recognition of the fact that the burden of proof is sometimes allocated in a manner that is at variance with the general rule. In determining whether the normal allocation of the burden of proof should be altered, the courts consider a number of factors: the knowledge of the parties concerning the particular fact, the availability of the evidence to the parties, the most desirable result in terms of public policy in the absence of proof of the particular fact, and the probability of the existence or nonexistence of the fact.' ( Lakin v. Watkins Associated Industries (1993) 6 Cal.4th 644, 660-661, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 109, 863 P.2d 179, quoting Cal. Law Revision Com. com., 29B West's Ann. Evid.Code (1966 ed.) foll. § 500, p. 431; see also Aydin Corp. v. First State Ins. Co., supra, 18 Cal.4th at p. 1193, 77 Cal.Rptr.2d 537, 959 P.2d 1213.) Defendant contends that facts demonstrating a typical attorney malpractice plaintiffs knowledge of a typical defendant's malpractice are likely to exist peculiarly within the plaintiffs access and control. According to defendant, therefore, we should as a matter of policy declare that the burden of proving such facts, when relevant under section 340.6, belongs to plaintiff. Again, we are not persuaded. We have not routinely found exceptions to Evidence Code section 500's general rule on the basis of relative access to evidence. (See, e.g., Adams v. Murakami, supra, 54 Cal.3d at pp. 120-121, 284 Cal. Rptr. 318, 813 P.2d 1348 [declining to burden defendant with proving the state of his own finances when punitive damages are in issue].) As plaintiff points out, nearly all the allegations required of the plaintiffs in tort and contract actions relate to the defendants' acts or omissions and so might be thought, almost by definition, to describe matters peculiarly within the defendants' knowledge or control. That circumstance, however, has not occasioned a wholesale departure in tort and contract actions from the ordinary allocation of proof burdens. Moreover, to the extent section 340.6(a)'s one-year-from-discovery limitations period may be triggered by a circumstance having no necessary relation to the plaintiffs actual state of mindnamely, that the plaintiff through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered the defendant's wrongful conductsno reason appears for assuming that, in any given case, knowledge ... concerning the particular fact ( Lakin v. Watkins Associated Industries, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 660, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 109, 863 P.2d 179) or facts actually triggering the limitations period will he within one party's grasp but not the other's. In light of Evidence Code section 500's mandate and the plain language of section 340.6(a), we need not strain to discern (because we are not free to impose) a universally desirable result in terms of public policy ( Lakin v. Watkins Associated Industries, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 660, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 109, 863 P.2d 179) for all section 340.6(a) disputes. As we recently observed, the affirmative defense based on the statute of limitations should not be characterized by courts as either `favored' or `disfavored,' as [t]he two public policies ... for repose and ... for disposition on the merits ... are equally strong, the one being no less important or substantial than the other. ( Norgart v. Upjohn Co., supra, 21 Cal.4th at p. 396, 87 Cal.Rptr.2d 453, 981 P.2d 79, citing numerous authorities.) In any event, [t]o establish any particular limitations period under any particular statute of limitations entails the striking of a balance between the two, and thus [t]o establish any such period under any such statute belongs to the Legislature alone [citation], subject only to constitutional constraints [citation]. ( Id. at pp. 396-397, 87 Cal.Rptr.2d 453, 981 P.2d 79.) Finally, the record in this case reveals no superior or enhanced access to evidence on plaintiff's part. The main witness on delayed discovery was the attorney, Hildre. While common sense suggests Samuels may at the outset have enjoyed certain practical advantages in contacting Hildre, whom she had consulted in his professional capacity, no reason appears to assume, in assessing the availability of the evidence to the parties ( Lakin v. Watkins Associated Industries, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 660, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 109, 863 P.2d 179), that, ultimately, either party enjoyed special or unequal access to Hildre's testimony. We agree with plaintiff that no valid basis exists for shifting to her the burden of proof on the discovery prong of section 340.6(a) on the speculation that she had more peculiar access to relevant evidence. [5] In sum, defendant fails to demonstrate that our judicial interference with the traditional allocation of the burden of proof ( Fukuda v. City of Angels, supra, 20 Cal.4th at p. 820, 85 Cal.Rptr.2d 696, 977 P.2d 693) when defendants rely on section 340.6(a) would be either proper or desirable. Rather, in this case, as in the past, we shall strictly follow the statute that governs the accrual and limitation of claims for attorney malpractice ( Wiley v. County of San Diego (1998) 19 Cal.4th 532, 546, 79 Cal.Rptr.2d 672, 966 P.2d 983 (cone. opn. of Werdegar, J.), citing § 340.6; see Steketee v. Lintz, Williams & Rothberg (1985) 38 Cal.3d 46, 56, 210 Cal.Rptr. 781, 694 P.2d 1153 [observing that statutes of limitations `are technical defenses which should be strictly construed to avoid the forfeiture of a plaintiff's rights']) and uphold the Court of Appeal's finding of instructional error. The petition for review presents only the narrow legal question whether the trial court correctly allocated the burden of proof with respect to the one-year-from-discovery provision of section 340.6(a). In their briefing on the merits before this court, the parties have confined themselves to that issue, not disputing that the record contains conflicting evidence on the determinative issue of discovery, or the Court of Appeal's conclusion that the trial court's erroneous instructions must be considered prejudicial, since it is reasonably likely the jury verdict was based on them. Accordingly, we need not consider the question of prejudice here. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 28(e)(2); People v. Weiss (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1073, 1076-1077, 86 Cal.Rptr.2d 337, 978 P.2d 1257.) We nevertheless find no grounds for disagreeing with the Court of Appeal's conclusion respecting prejudice, which was based on a detailed examination of the conflicting trial testimony about Samuels's discovery of the underlying facts. Among other things, the Court of Appeal noted that the parties disputed whether, after her October 1991 meeting with Attorney Hildre, plaintiff Samuels believed that defendant Mix had misrepresented Showa Denko's true financial condition. The court also noted that, when cross-examined about apparent discrepancies between her trial and deposition testimony bearing on when she first suspected wrongdoing by Mix, Samuels testified to suffering from imprecise memory and argued that her deposition testimony referred not to knowledge of defendant's wrongdoing in negotiating settlement but, rather, simply to her general disillusionment with defendant (based on his assertedly unauthorized use of a courier and discussing with others the amount of the settlement after stating it was confidential). The Court of Appeal also appreciated that `few instructions are of greater importance than that which informs the jury which party bears the burden of proof on the issues in dispute.' ( Bernal v. Richard Wolf Medical Instruments Corp. (1990) 221 Cal.App.3d 1326, 1335, 272 Cal. Rptr. 41.) Nothing in the record indicates the erroneous instructions were mitigated or remedied by other instructions. (See Soule v. General Motors Corp. (1994) 8 Cal.4th 548, 570-571, 34 Cal.Rptr.2d 607, 882 P.2d 298.)