Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in California

URGENT! New Legal Mal Statute Question (CA)

Statute is running in 24hrs (or today) on filing or maybe not...

One attorney spoken with last week said ''last week'' he read the ''new'' legal mal statute for CA is now ''2-years.''

They were to email copy of this info more than once and haven't. No one else seems to have knowledge of any change.

I am banging my head researching trying to locate this to be true or not. Only coming up with dead ends!

Can anyone point me in the right direction to find this ''new'' 2-year statute before my statute of limitation blows or I blow first.

I feel very strongly about this case and don't want to walk away. I have not as yet retained counsel. I do not want to file pro per and go further shopping although I do have attorney interest if ''I buy'' the extra 60-days. I also don't want to throw away $320 filing fee for not being able to retain counsel.

Thanks for your help.


Asked on 7/18/06, 5:43 am

3 Answers from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Re: URGENT! New Legal Mal Statute Question (CA)

One year: Legal mal cases "shall be commenced within one year after the plaintiff discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the facts constituting the wrongful act or omission"

Waiting until the last day to ask for help was not wise.

Now, IF you are within the year as described above, and IF you actually have a legitimate case with provable harm and financial damages, you should file to stop the statute from running. Then you can discuss the facts with an experienced attorney, or pursue it yourself [also an unwise decision].

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Answered on 7/21/06, 2:14 pm
Joel Selik www.SelikLaw.com

Re: URGENT! New Legal Mal Statute Question (CA)

One year, not two.

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Answered on 7/20/06, 4:21 pm
Carl Starrett Law Offices of Carl H. Starrett II

Re: URGENT! New Legal Mal Statute Question (CA)

The applicable law is Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.6 and the state legistlature's website still says 1 year. I did a search of pending and recently enacted legislation and did not see anything increassing it from 1 year to 2 years.

It may be possible that I overlooked something, but why take the chance. If you file on time, they all you've spent is the $320. If you don't file on time, you've lost your entire claim.

I am not expressing any opinion on whether filing today or tomorrow would preserve your because I have no idea when the claim arose.

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Answered on 7/20/06, 5:02 pm


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