How to sue your lawyer in California.

Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.6(a) governs actions against an attorney for a wrongful act or omission, other than actual fraud, arising in the performance of professional services. In California, you generally have one year from discovering the mistake, and never more than four years from the act, to sue a lawyer for malpractice. The one year runs from when you discovered, or through reasonable diligence should have discovered, the facts constituting the wrongful act. That is a discovery rule, but it runs from discovering the facts, not from learning they add up to malpractice.

The California Supreme Court explained the reach of the statute in Lee v. Hanley, 61 Cal. 4th 1225 (2015). It held that § 340.6(a) applies whenever the merits of a claim will necessarily depend on proof that the attorney violated a professional obligation in the course of providing professional services, so relabeling a claim does not avoid the one year limit.

Section 340.6 lists the situations that toll (pause) the four year outer limit:

• You have not yet sustained actual injury.
• The attorney continues to represent you regarding the specific subject matter where the mistake occurred. This is California's statutory continuous representation rule.
• The attorney willfully conceals facts the attorney knows about the mistake. This tolls only the four year limit.
• You are under a legal or physical disability that restricts your ability to sue.
• A fee dispute is pending in mandatory fee arbitration under Business and Professions Code § 6200 and following.

Because of these tolling rules, the four year limit works as a qualified statute of repose, not an absolute one. Claims for actual fraud fall outside § 340.6. Compare California with other states in the deadline table.

California deadline rules at a glance

A California malpractice plaintiff generally must prove that the lawyer owed a duty, failed to use the skill and care that a reasonably careful lawyer would use (the standard of care), that the failure was a cause of harm, and actual damages. When the mistake happened in litigation, you usually also have to prove the case within a case: that you would have obtained a better result if the lawyer had done the job right.

California does not require a certificate of merit before suing a lawyer. In most cases, though, you will need an expert witness, a lawyer who practices in the same area, to explain what a careful lawyer would have done. Most California legal malpractice cases need an expert to prove the standard of care, unless the error is so obvious an ordinary juror could see it.

A lost case or a reasonable judgment call that did not work out is not malpractice. See what is not legal malpractice and our expert witness guide.

Damages usually mean the money you lost because of the mistake: the recovery you would have won in the original case, extra fees you paid another lawyer to fix the problem, or the value of a deal or right the lawyer let slip away. A clear error that caused no measurable loss usually does not support a malpractice claim.

California has one of the strictest rules for suing a criminal defense lawyer. In Coscia v. McKenna & Cuneo, 25 Cal. 4th 1194 (2001), the California Supreme Court required a former defendant to have the conviction set aside through postconviction relief and then to allege and prove actual innocence in the malpractice case.

The legislature built that rule into the deadline. Under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.6, a plaintiff who must prove factual innocence has two years after achieving postconviction exoneration, in the form of a final judicial disposition of the criminal case, to sue. That language, added by a 2019 amendment effective January 1, 2020, replaced the older "two-track" approach under Coscia, in which a former defendant had to file within the ordinary deadline and then wait for the criminal case to resolve. Relief for ineffective assistance alone is not enough without innocence. See criminal defense malpractice and can you sue a public defender.

California's Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program is run by the State Bar and approved local bar associations. It is mandatory for the lawyer if the client requests it. If a lawyer tries to collect fees, the lawyer must first give you a "Notice of Client's Right to Fee Arbitration," and you have 30 days to request arbitration or you waive it. Under Business and Professions Code § 6204, California fee arbitration is non-binding unless both sides agree in writing, after the dispute arises, to be bound; otherwise either side can seek a trial within 30 days. Filing fee arbitration also tolls the malpractice deadline while it is pending. See our fee arbitration guide.

If a lawyer stole from you, apply to the State Bar's Client Security Fund, California's client protection fund. It is funded by California lawyers and can reimburse up to $100,000 per claim, depending on when the loss occurred. It covers theft of settlement money, failure to refund fees when no work was done, and similar dishonest conduct. It does not pay for negligence, malpractice, interest, or new legal fees. See stolen client funds.

The State Bar's Office of Chief Trial Counsel handles complaints about unethical attorney conduct. You can file a bar grievance online or with a PDF complaint form available in several languages. A State Bar attorney reviews it, may ask you for more information, and opens an investigation if the facts would establish a violation. Complaints and investigations are presumptively confidential.

A State Bar of California complaint can lead to discipline in State Bar Court, but it does not pause the one year malpractice deadline in § 340.6. Only the listed tolling events do that. Read malpractice vs. a bar complaint to decide which tool fits.

California also has a malpractice insurance disclosure rule. Under Rule 1.4.2 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer who does not carry professional liability insurance generally must tell the client so in writing.

1. Pin down the date you learned the facts. In California that date usually starts a one year clock.
2. Note whether the lawyer is still handling the same matter, which may toll the deadline.
3. Request your client file in writing. See how to get your case file.
4. If the fight is only about the bill, consider fee arbitration, which also tolls the malpractice clock.

What to gather before you talk to a lawyer

• The engagement letter or fee agreement.
• Every bill and proof of payment.
• Emails, texts, and letters with the lawyer, especially anything about deadlines or case status.
• Court papers from the original matter, including any dismissal order or judgment.
• A short timeline: when you hired the lawyer, when the mistake happened, when you found out, and when the lawyer stopped working for you.

A malpractice lawyer will usually check that timeline against the California deadline first, because a late claim cannot be saved no matter how strong it is.

If you think your lawyer's mistake cost you, a free case review takes about two minutes and can connect you with an independent attorney who handles legal malpractice claims in California.