California Superior Court

Civil Case Cover Sheet (CM-010)

Classify a new California civil case before you file the first paper.

CM-010 is the Judicial Council Civil Case Cover Sheet used at the beginning of most California civil cases. Docgle turns the classification boxes into a guided interview and prepares the cover sheet for review and filing.

Start the walkthrough View the official source

Average time

6-10 minutes

Difficulty

moderate

Best for

Plaintiffs or first filers preparing a California civil complaint package, and defendants making a first-appearance complex-case designation response.

What this form stands for

Get the first-paper civil filing classified cleanly so the court receives CM-010 with the complaint or first paper instead of a raw checkbox sheet.

CM-010 is a cover sheet, not the complaint; failing to file it with the first paper may result in sanctions under the official instructions.

What you'll need

Complaint or first paper
Court county and branch
Primary case type
Amount demanded
Complex-case factors if any

How the walkthrough is organized

Caption

Attorney or self-represented party, court, and case name.

Case classification

Unlimited/limited tier, one primary case type, and complex-case status.

Case details

Remedies, number of causes of action, and class-action status.

Filing handoff

Signature, copies, filing fee or fee waiver, service, and related-case notice reminders.

Ready to start?

Docgle asks calm, plain-English questions and keeps the official source attached for review.

Start california-cm010-civil-case-cover-sheet walkthrough