Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: legal malpractice

If you haven't already accepted the settlement and signed the release, then it's not too late to discharge your attorney and hire new counsel. If you did settle, it will be hard to maintain a legal malpractice case. You might need to go to trial and lose before you can prove that his incompetence harmed you. In either event, it's worth sitting down with a lawyer who specializes in legal malpractice.

One tip: do NOT pay for an initial consultation. Also: $25K to your own attorney is way too much. I take these kind of cases on contingency-- NO money up front!-- and so do a lot of my friends (that is, if the case is good. If it's not, I don't want it).

Re: legal malpractice

This is probably too late to help you, but as a public forum I think it is important for everyone who reads this to consider this advice when looking for an attorney to represent them in possible litigation.

Talk to as many attorneys as you can before you retain one. At least 3, probably more. Clients need to compare lawyer's opinions about the case, assess if their style is what they are looking for, fee rates, their level of experience, etc. If possible, research the attorney to determine their level of experience, the organizations they belong to, learn if they litigate or just go for the quick settlement.

As Mr. Malloy said, most lawyers don't charge $25,000 to take on a good case. That kind of fee either indicates the case is not as good as you think it is, or the lawyer has no confidence he'll be able to make it pay for both of you. If so, find another lawyer.

I'm not a malpractice attorney but you should follow Mr. Malloy's advice and seek help immediately.

Re: legal malpractice

You must mitigate you damages by dismissing him immediately, hiring another attorney who may ask for a continuance of all dates, re-open discovery and salvage your case. Contact me directly.

Re: legal malpractice

Did you exhaust your administrative remedies by getting a right to sue from EEOC, when is the trial date, what deaddlines did he miss?

Re: legal malpractice

Waiting this long to take action was not a good decision. If this is actually two days before trial, and you're asking what to do, you have a huge problem. You are unlikely to get the court to continue the trial. IF you get new counsel conditionally willing to step in, and he appears ExParte requesting continuance, there is only a small chance it would be granted at this late date. If denied, is the new attorney prepared to try it now? Not likely! If not, will the current attorney continue to trial [that would be a problem either way]? Would you want him to? There is no magic bullet answer available.

Whether you take the settlement or go to trial, proving malpractice will be difficult. Simply doing things differently than you wanted is NOT malpractice. If attorneys you consult, for handling the trial, or for possible malpractice action, review his conduct and tell you it was negligent, or they say the proposed settlement was 'orders of magnitude' less than reasonable, then ok, you may have a claim you could pursue. But if they say his conduct and the proposed settlement was within a reasonable range based on the case, then you are barking up the wrong tree. After this gets sorted out by trial or settlement, feel free to contact me if you think you really have a malpractice case.