Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Apr. 5, 2013
Can a large punitive damages award insulate lawyers from malpractice claims?
With the law unclear on whether punitive damages awarded in an underlying case can offset any alleged damages in a later malpractice case, an analysis of the judicial and public policies behind an award of punitive damages is sure to become essential. By Alyson Decker
Under California law, a client who sues their former attorney for legal malpractice cannot recover punitive damages that were allegedly lost because of that attorney's negligence in the underlying case. See Ferguson v. Leiff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, 30 Cal. 4th 1037 (2003); Piscitelli v. Friedenberg, 87 Cal App. 4th 953 (2001). While the Ferguson rule is undisputed, there is a dearth of case law regarding ...
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