Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Questionable lawyer

Your attorney has an obligation under the California Rules of Professional Conduct to keep your wife updated on her case. (If you have a claim for loss of consortium, you may also be a client.) If he fails to return your calls, or fails to give you a satisfactory explanation of what is going on with the case, you do not have to put up with this. 2 1/2 years is a long time without a resolution of such a case. And the explanation that the case has been "moved to small claims" is very unusual. If so, your wife would be handling the case herself (since attorneys are not allowed to appear in Small Claims Court, and the damages would be limited to $7,500.)

Are you sure your attorney actually filed a lawsuit? Two years is the statute of limitations period in California for a personal injury case, and a suit would have to be filed before that 2 yrs expired.

It sounds like you should probably fire this attorney and hire an experienced personal injury attorney to follow up on the matter. He/she can get the first atty to respond and hand over the files (which your wife has a right to obtain under the law).

This is not to say that your wife will be successful in obtaining an award of damages or a settlement. Slip and fall cases with large retail stores are often difficult to win, unless you have solid evidence that the store employees knew or should have known of the hazard that caused the fall before the accident occurred. Most stores of this kind have developed regular cleaning/ inspection procedures, complete with performance logs that they keep just for the purpose of establishing they used due care to prevent such accidents.

If your current attorney is not aware of this reality, he should not be trying to handle a slip and fall case.

Re: Questionable lawyer

We've taken over many cases where clients have been unhappy with their attorneys. If your attorney has allowed the statute of limitations to pass without filing suit then you would have a claim against him/her - he/she is obliged to inform you about the status of your case.

Feel free to contact our office or email if we can be of assistance.

Re: Questionable lawyer

Incredible. Based upon your question, it seems as though your lawyer may have blown the 2 year statute of limitation for personal injury cases. Depending on the nature and extent of our wife's injuries, and the strength of her case, you may have a legal malpractice case against your attorney.

I am not a malpractice attorney, but if you like, I can refer you to one if you contact me at 1.877.505.INJURY.