Sometimes A Legal Malpractice Action May Be Assigned.

Pursuant to Goodley v. Wank & Wank, Inc. (1976) 62 Cal.App.3d 389, [133 Cal.Rptr. 83], a legal malpractice action may not be assigned in California. In the present matter, the trial court determined an assignee plaintiff lacked standing in a legal malpractice action and entered a judgment of dismissal.  Finding the usual public policies concerns were not at issue, the Court of Appeal reversed, ruling: “Specifically, a cause of action for legal malpractice is transferable when (as here): (1) the assignment of the legal malpractice claim is only a small, incidental part of a larger commercial transfer between insurance companies; (2) the larger transfer is of assets, rights, obligations, and liabilities and does not treat the legal malpractice claim as a distinct commodity; (3) the transfer is not to a former adversary; (4) the legal malpractice claim arose under circumstances where the original client insurance company retained the attorney to represent and defend an insured; and (5) the communications between the attorney and the original client insurance company were conducted via a third party claims administrator.” (White Mountains Reinsurance Company of America v. Petrini (Cal. App. Third Dist.; November 26, 2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 890, [164 Cal.Rptr.3d 912].