Frequently individuals present to UCLA Health hospitals, clinics and/or administrative offices to serve legal documents such as subpoenas and complaints on University of California employees or officials. Please note that only designated University of California personnel and/or contractors are authorized to accept and respond to service of such documents on behalf of the University.
Any subpoena delivered or presented to a UCLA Health employee should be immediately forwarded to the appropriate Custodian of Record. A "Custodian of Record" is the UCLA Health administrator responsible for the safekeeping of departmental records. Please see Appendix A of UCLA Health Policy HS 9011 "Subpoenas - Legal Processes - Summons and Complaints" for a list of UCLA Health Custodians of Record.
A Summons and Complaint is the first notice and initial pleading of a party bringing a lawsuit in a civil court action. Upon proper service of a Summons and Complaint, a defendant must provide a written response normally within thirty (30) days. Failure to respond to a Summons and Complaint may result in a default judgment against the defendant.
Only the University of California Office of the General Counsel may accept Summons and Complaints on behalf of the UCLA Health and its employees. Any attempt to serve a lawsuit on the UCLA Health (including its physicians and clinics), must be referred to following address and telephone number:
Office of the General Counsel
University of California
1111 Franklin Street, 8th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607
Tel: (510) 987-9800
California law requires that a person who wishes to bring an action against a health care provider for professional negligence first give ninety (90) days' prior notice to the health care provider of his or her intention to commence legal action.
Upon receipt of a Letter of Intent to Commence Legal Action, or a demand for compensation or reimbursement due to an alleged poor medical outcome, please promptly notify the UCLA Health Office of Risk Management by either: (1) delivering the notice by hand to the UCLA Health Office of Risk Management (see address below); or (2) faxing a copy of the notice to the UCLA Health Office of Risk Management (310-794-5883) and mailing the original notice to the following address:
UCLA Health
Office of Risk Management
10920 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 430
Los Angeles, CA 90024
When a lawsuit is filed against the University in federal or state court (or a lawsuit is anticipated), the University is required by law to preserve all information, including electronically stored information ("ESI"), relevant to the claims or defenses in the lawsuit (or anticipated lawsuit).
Compliance with these "e-discovery" rules requires each University location to: (1) determine when litigation is anticipated; (2) issue "litigation hold" letters (instructing the appropriate University staff member, who may have information relevant to the case ("Information Custodian"), to preserve the information); and (3) preserve relevant ESI until the case is resolved or the statute of limitations expires.
The UCLA Health Office of Risk Management or University counsel will send the hold notice to the appropriate Information Custodian, informing them of their duty to preserve information and defining the scope of information to be preserved. In those instances where a lawsuit has not yet been filed, the UCLA Health Office of Risk Management and/or University counsel will be responsible for determining whether litigation is reasonably anticipated and a litigation hold letter required.
The duty to preserve information concerning the claim(s) extends to hard copy and electronically stored information (including e-mail, voice mail, and text messages). Information in electronic form must be preserved wherever it is stored: at a campus workstation, on a laptop, flash drive, PDA or Blackberry, or personally owned computer. In some cases, consultation with a designated UCLA Health IT representative will be necessary to ensure that all relevant information is secured.
Any questions regarding these e-discovery compliance procedures should be directed to the UCLA Health Office of Legal Affairs or the UCLA Health Office of Risk Management.
