Legal negligence claims often involve claims that the attorney breached the standard of care, the breach of duty caused harm to the client, and the client accrued damages because of the malpractice. Only attorneys who have been board-certified in California can advertise or identify themselves as "certified specialists" or "board certified" in California for that field. A board-certified legal professional liability attorney has shown that they have extensive experience in the field, have participated in a certain number of legal malpractice cases, pass a written exam, shown they meet education requirements, provide references, and meet other standards to show a high degree of competency.
In California, the board certification for legal malpractice law is awarded by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
Only California attorneys who are board certified in legal malpractice law can advertise or identify themselves as "certified specialists" or "board certified" in California for that field.
The Rules Governing the State Bar of California Program for Certifying Legal Specialists govern the program requirements and should be read in conjunction with the standards for certification in legal malpractice.
Among other requirements, the attorneys must demonstrate substantial involvement, complete continuing education requirements, and pass the legal specialist examination. Attorneys who are certified in California must apply for recertification every five years.
California's board certification program defines the term "legal malpractice" as the practice of law dealing with the prosecution or defense of claims against an attorney regarding wrongful acts or omissions arising out of the performance of the attorney’s professional services, and/or issues of attorneys’ fees, payments or liens.
The board certification program for legal malpractice does not include the prosecution or defense of attorney disciplinary matters.
An attorney seeking certification in legal malpractice must demonstrate that during the specified time period he or she has been substantially involved in the practice of legal malpractice law.
For purposes of the program, the attorney can make a prima facie showing of substantial involvement in the area of legal malpractice law by acquiring a certain number of points for certain completing certain types of tasks including:
An attorney seeking certification in legal malpractice must demonstrate that within the specified period the attorney completed a specified number of education activities approved for, or relevant to, legal malpractice law.
The rules also provide an alternative equivalent to the requirement of passing a written examination including authoring published articles, authoring a practice book (or chapter in such book), in the area of legal malpractice law; or presenting at an approved continuing legal education (CLE) on topics for legal malpractice law.
Professional negligence cases might involve losses for large sums of money for a business or individual. If you or your company suffered a substantial loss because of the misconduct of an attorney, you should seek out the services of an experienced legal malpractice attorney.
The elements of a legal malpractice claim include:
Legal negligence claims often involve claims that the attorney breached the standard of care, the breach of duty caused harm to the client, and the client accrued damages because of the malpractice.