Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

In an Attorney-Client Fee Agreement ("Agreement"), there's an Binding Arbitration clause and Mediation clause. But when I, the "runner", gave that Agreement to the person ("Plaintiff") to sign at his home, that Plaintiff was sick and temporarily mentally impaired (due to prescribed medication use, and I did notice he, an elderly Senior citizen, had mood swings/anger issues/fatigue). I just verbally told the Plaintiff that the agreement was for him to get legal representation from an attorney.

Months later, the attorney refused to prepare any oppositions, refused to appear in court & unexpectedly left the case, and on trial date, plaintiff was sick, in a hospital & didn't attend and had called the court from the hospital asking for continuance, and the attorney was nowhere to be found, so the Trial Court dismissed the case in favor of all defendants.

Plaintiff just found out that one of the defendants in the underlying case, is the current property management company for that attorney's home (because I just told Plaintiff about the attorney's past connection to defendant, because the attorney had told me last year, when I first gave him paperwork on the case)

So, Plaintiff believes that the attorney had a conflict of interest, since he was associated with the defendant before the underlying case was first brought to his attention.

The time for Notice of Intent To Move For New Trial has expired, and the case is now currently on Appeal.

Now almost a year is nearly expired, and the Plaintiff plans on suing the Attorney/Law Firm for Legal Malpractice, a week before the 1-year S.O.L. expires for Legal Malpractice.

Plaintiff understands that the SOL for Malpractice is tricky, because the S.O.L. doesn't begin to start until the last overt act of Malpractice has occurred & Plaintiff first discovered. (The firm has Malpractice Insurance)

A couple weeks ago, Plaintiff sent an email Notice of Intent to Sue letter (for legal malpractice) to the law firm, and their attorney replied by email, that "we need to talk to resolve this" (which might show that they don't deny Plaintiff's accusations of malpractice)

In a letter sent to the Plaintiff by the attorney, the attorney states that there's the Binding Arbitration clause (which is supposed to be final) in the Agreement, and that the Plaintiff cannot sue, because Plaintiff waived his right to trial, based on signing the agreement containing Arbitration clause.

Plaintiff asked the attorney, in a fax sent, if they would stipulate to extend the statute of limitations so that they can all participate in ADR Process, and no one from the law firm has replied to Plaintiff's request, because it seems they're waiting for the 1-yr SOL to expire.

A 2nd request was made, and they stated that their insurance carrier has declined to extend the SOL.

Plaintiff meets the criteria for pursuing a Legal Malpractice claim, because Plaintiff had a probability to win the underlying case, Plaintiff's then-attorney's conduct was below the standard of care, and all defendants/companies in the underlying case have their own insurances and judgments could've been collected then, and are currently collectable now.

Plaintiff feels that he has grounds to sue, despite Arbitration/Mediation clauses because:

1.) he was temporarily mentally impaired (due to medication) when he signed the Agreement, and that he was not addressed about the arbitration clause in a separate document, because the arbitration clause was buried in the 9-page Agreement ; and

2.) Defendants refuse to participate in ADR Process after Plaintiff recently requested, because they're avoiding stipulating to extend the 1-year SOL.

QUESTION:

If Plaintiff files suit for Legal Malpractice, does Plaintiff have a chance of having the court rule in his favor, when opposing the defendants' demurrer/MTS based on the Arbitration/Mediation clauses, if they move for it, based on Plaintiff being mentally impaired due to medication?

Can Plaintiff succeed in a Motion to Strike arbitration/mediation clauses from Agreement, due to him being temporarily mentally impaired due to medical/prescription medicine intoxication, when he signed Agreement?

If the court orders the case be arbitrated, can Plaintiff get the court to make it a Non-Binding Arbitration, instead of binding?

This is an updated question, because the 1st question was a but misleading and didn't have all the info. So, you can ignore the previous question, and answer this updated similar question instead. Thank You.

(Disclaimer: I , the person asking this question, do not hold liable anyone from this website, Lawguru, for any information provided by them to me, and I waive my right to any claims against them)

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