Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in California

can i take someone to small claims court and sue them for the interest charged to me,because they kept my money for almost 900 days before paying me. and if so can i then, file a complaint with the california bar then afterwards file a civil suit against them for breech of fiduciary duty. figured if i just went after the interest owed to me, that i was charged by the hospital,because he didnt give me my money. then that would give me more proof in my civil case against him, because i could use the small claims case as evidence also. and by going to small claims first, i can limit his lawyering skills by, no discovery. and he will just have to answer to the interest money. what do you think? or is there a better way.


Asked on 11/30/12, 2:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

If an attorney kept your money for almost 900 days, you should have filed a complaint with the State Bar a LONG time ago. You should do that no matter what. As for the rest of it, though, you cannot do it the way you describe. When you sue someone for damages arising out of a single contract, obligation, accident or set of events, you must sue them for everything all at once. Anything you leave out is gone once you go to trial on whatever you include. Small Claims IS a civil case, just for a small amount of money so it has special rules. Once you file a Small Claims action and take it to court, you will be forever prohibited from suing him again for anything else arising out of the failure to pay you your money. You also need to bear in mind that you are facing statute of limitations issues, and if you take one case to trial you may find your other claims time-barred, even if they were sufficiently separate issues that you were not required to put them in the first lawsuit.

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Answered on 11/30/12, 2:51 pm


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