Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in California

I got a lien judgment against me for $72k from my commercial landlord because I broke my lease then i hired an attorney to set side the judgment and take the lien off , in our first meeting I told the attorney about my case and the reason I broke my lease then he told me I had very good case against my land lord and I should counter sue him and he said that's his speciality so I really believed him and he said I should Sue him for $120k so I hired him , then after one year working in my case we sat a day for a mediation ,at the mediation we started talking to the mediator and all the sudden my attorney told me I have to offer the landlord some money because my case is very weak and I had no prove of my claim , I couldn't believe what he said to me I was so shocked then I told him I thought I had very good case then he said yes if you have any prove ,then I said why you didn't tell this before I would of took different ave to settle my case then he didn't say any thing , I paid my attorney more than $37k and the landlord his bill went up from $72k to $110k and I just got another bill from my attorney for $14000 , so I lost $51k fees to my attorney and now I owe my landlord $110k , then for the last 2 months after the mediation I have been telling my attorney to settle my case with my offer for $50k and if they don't take it go with their offer for $75k over 5 years ( they gave me this offer after the mediation and they told me take it today or leave it ) and my attorney told me he offer them my $50k offer and if they refused it I will take their offer and as far as I know he did then I found out he was lying to me he never gave them any offer and he didn't even tell them I will take their offer , now I am not sure if they still offering me the $75k because this was 2 months ago , and I have telling my attorney to settle it for me but he said he was working on it but he was lying , he lied because he want to do more work for me so he could charge me more , this is why he send another bill for $14000 pleas is there is any way I can do something to this attorney before he make me lose my house .


Asked on 11/19/15, 9:58 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

The first thing you need to do is file a complaint with the State Bar (Info here: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/LawyerRegulation.aspx )

Next find another attorney immediately.

From what you describe, what your lawyer has done wrong for the most part is mishandling the settlement. While it is poor performance, it generally is not malpractice to believe a client's story and that the client has proof, only to find out that the proof does not exist. That should not, however, take a year to find out unless you were promising him proof that never materialized. Sometimes it takes the discovery process to force an attorney to realize that his client just can't back up what they say.

It is hard to think of any excuse, however, for not conveying your settlement position, and if that causes you losses it is pretty serious malpractice. Get the landlord case settled and then look into malpractice.

Find another attorney immediately. Feel free to contact me if you like.

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Answered on 11/19/15, 2:32 pm


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