Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Attorney gives opposition wrong file!

Legal malpractice (which is a specialized form of negligence), breach of fiduciary duty, breach of the rules of professional conduct, an uncodified ethical violation and a breach of the representation agreement can and often do result, simultaneously, from the sme boo-boo made by an attorney. Often, whether any, some or all of these arise from a particular error is a matter of degree of harm done or some technical aspect of the culpability.

In your case, I think a starting point would be to see whther the file can be retrieved with some assurances that nothing in it has been studied or copied. Many law firms, upon realizing that they have been delivered the wrong material by accident, would voluntarily return it.

I'm not completely clear at what stage your litigation is; if you have reached a tentative settlement and all that is left is documenting it in a formal settlement agreement, the mistake may be relatively harmless.

Also, if the mistake was "invited" because you included the wrong file in a box of file drawer that your attorney was told contained the stuff to be shared, without indicating that he needed to comb through it folder by folder before delivering it to the opposition, you don't have much of a case.

The real question is whether your attorney rendered services with the skill, prudence and diligence commonly employed by other attorneys in the same or similar circumstances. If not, and you interests were harmed, this may be one of the several causes of action (malpractice, etc.) mentioned above.

I recommend trying to minimize the damage done by the mistake, if possible, as being possibly more fruitful that going after your lawyer. On the other hand, if you find you have retained Bozo, consult with another lawyer with experience in legal malpractice and/or retain someone else to replace Bozo.