B.B. vs Lawyer

The parents of a severely disabled child had a small auto accident. The lawyer handling the case for them brought the paperwork for the settlement to their home. When he was sitting in the living room, he heard horrible screams from a back bedroom. When he inquired of the mother, she told him that her now seven-year-old son had been born at a major hospital but something had gone wrong during delivery. She had retained a lawyer years ago who had told them that they had no case.

Eventually the case got to us. We obtained the lawyer's file on the case from years ago. We had found that he had never filed the case. He had told the parents that they didn't have a case but that he would file it anyway if they paid the $42.00 filling fee. He gave them a receipt for the money but did not file the case or return the money. Many years went by. The child survived but was horribly injured.

We first tried to sue the birth hospital and the doctors since the lawyer had never done it. The court, however, ruled that it was too late. We took that order and sued the first lawyer who had taken money and never filed the complaint. The jury awarded what was then one of the largest legal malpractice verdicts in Los Angeles history.