A California civil sexual abuse case generally moves through six stages: a confidential consultation, investigation and filing, the defendant's response, discovery, settlement negotiations and, only if the case does not settle, a trial. Most cases resolve through settlement, and a contested case against an institution commonly takes two to four years from filing.
This guide describes the general process only. Every case proceeds a little differently, and none of this is an assessment of any particular situation.
Before You Start: What California Law Requires
A civil claim is a lawsuit brought by the survivor, as the plaintiff, to seek compensation. A criminal case is brought by the State to punish an offender. A civil case does not depend on a police report, a prosecution or a conviction. The guide to civil vs. criminal cases explains the differences in more detail.
A civil claim can name the individual who committed the abuse. In many cases it can also name an institution that employed or supervised that person, such as a school district, a church, a youth organization, a foster care agency or a healthcare provider. Those claims usually rest on theories such as negligent hiring, supervision or retention, or a failure to protect. More on how institutional sexual abuse claims work is available separately.
Deadlines depend on when the abuse happened and how old the survivor was. In plain terms:
- Childhood sexual abuse on or after January 1, 2024. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1, there is no time limit to file.
- Childhood sexual abuse on or before December 31, 2023. The no-time-limit rule does not reach these claims. They follow the law as it stood at the end of 2023: generally until the survivor's 40th birthday, or within five years of discovering that a psychological injury was caused by the abuse, whichever is later. AB 218 created that framework. Its separate three-year revival window closed on December 31, 2022.
- Sexual assault of an adult. Under section 340.16, the deadline is generally 10 years from the last act, or three years from when the survivor discovered or reasonably should have discovered the resulting injury, whichever is later.
- Older adult claims. Section 340.16(b)(3) revives otherwise time-barred adult assault claims based on conduct on or after January 1, 2009. They may be filed until December 31, 2026. The only claims it does not revive are those litigated to finality, or settled in a written agreement, before January 1, 2023.
Applying these rules to a specific set of facts takes a conversation, and the statute of limitations page covers them in more depth.
The California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) is a separate state program, not a lawsuit. It can help qualifying victims with expenses such as counseling and medical care. Information is at victims.ca.gov.
Step 1: Confidential Consultation and Case Evaluation
The first conversation is private. Communications made to obtain legal advice are protected by attorney-client privilege from the start, even if no case is ever filed.
This conversation does not require a full account of what happened. The attorney is generally looking at a few structural questions: who the person was, what their role was (a teacher, coach, clergy member, doctor, foster parent), whether an institution was connected to them, which deadline applies, and what records may exist. A survivor can decline to answer anything and can stop at any point.
Many California attorneys handle these cases on a contingency basis, meaning the fee is a percentage of any recovery rather than an hourly charge. Business and Professions Code section 6147 requires a contingency agreement to be in writing, signed by both sides, and to state the fee rate, how costs affect the recovery, and that the fee is negotiable.
A consultation creates no obligation. The survivor decides whether to go further, and when.
RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline, at rainn.org, offers confidential support at any hour, whether or not a legal claim is ever pursued.
Step 2: Investigation and Filing the Civil Complaint
Before filing, the attorney does most of the groundwork. That typically means requesting medical records, employment and personnel records, institutional documents and prior complaints, and identifying every potential defendant.
The complaint is the document that starts the lawsuit. It names the plaintiff, the defendants and the legal claims. In many California sexual abuse cases, survivors proceed as "Jane Doe" or "John Doe." The court decides whether to permit a pseudonym, and courts often allow it in these cases. The page on confidentiality in sexual abuse claims explains these protections.
For survivors over 40 in a childhood sexual abuse case, section 340.1 adds a step: certificates of merit. The attorney certifies, after consulting a licensed mental health practitioner, that there is reasonable and meritorious cause to file. The practitioner, who has not treated the survivor, separately certifies a reasonable basis for the claim.
When the defendant is a public body, there is a question to answer first: is it a local entity, such as a school district, or the State? For childhood sexual abuse claims against a local public entity, California law generally removes the requirement to present a claim to the entity before suing. For the State, a different rule applies, and section 340.1 removes that requirement only for conduct on or after January 1, 2024.
The case is filed in the Superior Court, usually in the county where the abuse occurred or where a defendant resides. The first-filing fee for an unlimited civil case is set by Government Code section 70611, which currently reads $355; the amount should be confirmed at courts.ca.gov because fees change. After filing, each defendant must be formally served with the complaint and a summons.
Step 3: The Defendant's Response and Early Case Motions
A defendant generally has 30 days after service to file a written response. Usually this is an answer, a document admitting or denying the allegations.
Instead of answering, a defendant may file a demurrer (an argument that the complaint is legally insufficient even if its facts are true) or a motion to strike (a request to remove parts of it). The attorney responds. If the court agrees there is a defect, the complaint can often be amended.
The court then holds a case management conference, typically within the first several months, to set a schedule. The parties also commonly agree to a protective order, a court order limiting how sensitive documents produced in the case can be used and shared.