Legal Malpractice Attorney, California Legal Malpractice Lawyer, Gwire Law Offices

This is one of the rare cases we take involving divorce. It arises out of an attorney’s negligent handling of client’s dissolution of a 30 year marriage. The dissolution was complicated, complex, and involved the tracing of over $7,000,000 in community property funds, most of which our client’s ex-husband had misappropriated. Client’s attorney had virtually no family law experience and was not a regular practitioner in Santa Clara County (where the dissolution action was filed).

As a result of attorney’s negligent handling of the dissolution action over the course of four plus years, our client, who was virtually destitute, received no temporary spousal support, no attorney’s fees, and was required to pay ex-husband’s attorney’s fees (and third party attorney fees) as a result of her attorney’s filing frivolous motions. We claim that when it was clear that client could no longer pay her attorney, the attorney substituted out as client’s attorney leaving client with no option but to enter into a very disadvantageous settlement agreement with her ex-husband. The settlement resulted in client receiving only a small fraction of what she was entitled to receive under California community property laws. This case is set for trial in November 2009 in Santa Clara County Superior Court.