Orange County Superior Court to Expand Civil Unlimited Pilot Program for Resolving Discovery Disputes and Expediting Law and Motion Hearings

Santa Ana, CA — Starting October 1, 2025, the Orange County Superior Court will double the size of its Dedicated Discovery Department Program with the addition of the following five departments:

• Department C25 – Hon. Gassia Apkarian
• Department C27 – Hon. Bradley S. Erdosi
• Department C31 – Hon. Kimberly A. Knill
• Department N15 – Hon. Nathan Nhan Vu
• Department N18 – Hon. Scott A. Steiner

On June 30, 2025, the Court launched this new pilot program for its Civil Unlimited Panel to promptly resolving discovery motions and reducing law and motion hearing delays in participating departments.

Originally, the Court launched the Program in the following five departments: Department C15 (Hon. Michael J. Strickroth), Department C24 (Hon. Lindsey E. Martinez), Department C28 (Hon. Thomas S. McConville), Department N16 (Hon. Donald F. Gaffney), and Department W8 (Hon. Sheila O. Recio).

Program Overview:

The Dedicated Discovery Department Program is streamlining the resolution of discovery disputes and reducing calendar congestion in the participating departments by centralizing discovery motions in a single, dedicated department. On an expedited basis, all discovery motions filed in the participating departments are being set for an informal discovery conference in the dedicated discovery department with the Hon. Andre De La Cruz presiding. Only if the conference is unsuccessful, do the motions proceed to full briefing and a formal hearing in the discovery department. To date, only a few motions have proceeded to a formal hearing.

Click here to view the official news release.