Walker v. Superior Court

Opinion

LUCAS, C.J.

—We granted review to resolve a conflict in the Courts of Appeal concerning interpretation of Code of Civil Procedure section 396, which governs the transfer of cases from the superior court to the municipal court when an action fails to meet the superior court’s jurisdictional requirement of an amount in controversy exceeding $25,000. (All further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated.)

One line of decisions, followed by the Court of Appeal in the present case, holds that section 396 precludes transfer if the amount prayed for in the complaint…