Hearing that the cost of attorney’s fees exceeds damages can be incredibly frustrating. This is a challenging problem to remedy once you realize it exists. Most clients do not contemplate the possibility of attorney’s fees exceeding damages when signing a retainer agreement, but it is important to consider at the beginning of representation.   Ideally, this problem would be addressed on the front end. When retaining a law firm and pursuing litigation, clients should inquire about the possibility of recovering attorney’s fees. The winning party may be able to get the other side to pay thei ..read more

Makarem & Associates attorney Ron Makarem represent a single mother in an upcoming sexual harassment lawsuit against the woman’s former attorney. It is alleged that the defendant, Ronald J. Nolan, an attorney and principal at the Law Offices of Ronald J. Nolan, located in Valencia, California, has engaged in sexual harassment, sexual assault, and legal malpractice. According to the lawsuit, a Chino, California plaintiff retained Defendant Nolan and his law firm in 2017 to represent her in connection with legal claims against her former employer, but as he represented her, he allegedly sexu ..read more

A Makarem & Associates case led by attorney Ron Makarem was recently featured in Law360.com for representing Koi Design LLC in a legal malpractice case against The Bloom Firm. Koi Design is a company popularly known for its fashion scrubs within the medical apparel market. The Bloom Firm is run by Lisa Bloom, the daughter of civil rights attorney Gloria Allred. The case grew out of a trademark case in 2017 in which the company Strategic Partners Inc. sued Koi Design claiming they infringed on a Strategic Partners’ trademark for a line of health care worker scrubs. The attorney, Mastroianni ..read more

Bremer Family Winery is suing the local law firm that defended it in a Napa County code violations case that ended with a settlement the Bremers deem “unfavorable.” The lawsuit claims that Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty failed to adequately represent the Bremers, resulting in negligence and breaches of contract and fiduciary duty. Allegations include having work done by an employee with little to no experience in California land use law and concealing this from the Bremers. As a result, the winery suffered such damages as an unfavorable settlement, loss of income and future income and loss of ..read more

Your Lawyer Gave Inaccurate Legal Advice   The failure to provide competent legal information can be grounds for a legal malpractice claim. This can include drafting a contract with inconsistent terms, improperly using legal authority, or failing to inform clients about deadlines. If such a mistake leads to negative consequences or harm to your case, you may have a valid claim and could be able to sue your lawyer.   Your Lawyer Pressured You to Settle   If your attorney pressures you to settle because it would be advantageous to them, that can also be the basis of a malpractice ..read more

Close up of elegant busienssman wearing navy blue jacket, red tie and pocket square. Unrecognizable person, part of. If you are considering suing your attorney, a good first step is evaluating what went wrong. It is important to remember that just because you lost your case, that does not mean your attorney committed malpractice. To win on a malpractice claim, you need to prove that the attorney’s mistake caused a financial loss to you. The loss can include the attorney’s fees and the damages that could have been won if it were not for the attorney’s mistake.   If, based on the above info ..read more

Hearing that the cost of attorney’s fees exceeds damages can be incredibly frustrating. This is a challenging problem to remedy once you realize it exists. Most clients do not contemplate the possibility of attorney’s fees exceeding damages when signing a retainer agreement, but it is important to consider at the beginning of representation.   Ideally, this problem would be addressed on the front end. When retaining a law firm and pursuing litigation, clients should inquire about the possibility of recovering attorney’s fees. The winning party may be able to get the other side to pay thei ..read more

It is possible at times for clients to be dissatisfied with the outcome of their case or the way their attorney handled it throughout. But you may not always have grounds for a legal malpractice lawsuit even if you are unhappy with how things have gone with your case. You need to determine when your attorney has actually breached a duty of care in order to sue them. Here are some of the lapses on part of an attorney that could qualify as a breach of duty of care, depending on the circumstances. Ignoring Deadlines Your attorney has a legal duty to know the deadlines applicable to your case, suc ..read more

The State of the Law Since Cassel and a Proposal for Change California’s Evidence Code, as interpreted by the state’s Supreme Court, imposes sweeping protections on communications related to mediation. Its reach purportedly extends to communications that occur in the days before mediation, and conversations that are solely between attorney and client. These protections are meant to encourage candor in mediation, but come at a high cost: many plaintiffs in legal-malpractice actions, as well as attorneys named in such actions, find that important evidence to support or defend against a claim is ..read more

Legal malpractice is a complex area of law to understand. In fact, many people consider launching a legal malpractice suit without actually knowing if they have the grounds for a case or not. In order to offer an insight into what legal malpractice actually is, we’re going to discuss the concept of a case, within a case. Let’s start by establishing what legal malpractice is not – a sound legal malpractice claim cannot be triggered simply because a good case has been lost in court or received a verdict that you didn’t appreciate. It’s worth noting that no lawyer can give you absolutely certain ..read more