CA Legal Malpractice CLS study plan

Map the elements of a California legal malpractice claim (duty, breach, causation, damages) and articulate how each element is proven at trial

Distinguish legal malpractice from related theories such as breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, and identify which claims commonly accompany a malpractice cause of action

Outline the attorney-client relationship formation rules, including when a duty attaches and who counts as a client or intended beneficiary

Create a one-page element checklist with a short note on the evidence typically used to prove each element

Analyze the standard of care for California attorneys and explain how expert testimony establishes or challenges it

Evaluate the role of the rules of professional conduct and case law in setting the duty of care, including the limits of the 'judgment rule'

Identify common breach scenarios (missed deadlines, conflicts of interest, failure to communicate, inadequate discovery) and the facts that prove them

Draft a short fact pattern applying the standard of care to a missed statute of limitations

Explain actual and proximate causation in legal malpractice, including the 'case-within-a-case' doctrine and how it is tried

Distinguish causation from the merits of the underlying action and identify when the underlying outcome is speculative

Apply the burden-shifting and proof rules for causation when the underlying case settled or was dismissed

Work through two causation hypotheticals and write the proof sequence a plaintiff would use

Catalog the categories of damages recoverable in California legal malpractice, including compensatory, consequential, and emotional distress limits

Explain the availability and limits of punitive damages and attorney fees in malpractice actions

Analyze the rules for proving damages through the underlying case, including settlement credits and offsets

Build a damages checklist that links each damage category to its proof requirements

Explain the statute of limitations for legal malpractice in California, including the one-year and four-year periods and the date-of-discovery rule

Apply the continuous representation doctrine and identify facts that toll or trigger the limitations period

Analyze the statute of limitations for related claims such as breach of fiduciary duty and fraud

Draft a timeline analysis for a hypothetical where the client discovered the error years after the underlying judgment

Analyze defenses to legal malpractice claims, including comparative fault, contributory negligence, and the client's own misconduct

Evaluate the effect of settlement, release, and arbitration clauses in engagement agreements on malpractice claims

Explain the role of expert testimony in defending a malpractice claim and the limits on attorney testimony about the standard of care

Write a defense outline for a hypothetical claim, identifying the three strongest defenses and the evidence needed

Review the ethical duties that intersect with malpractice exposure, including competence, communication, confidentiality, and conflicts

Analyze how violations of the rules of professional conduct are used as evidence of breach and how they are not

Examine the interplay between State Bar disciplinary proceedings and civil malpractice liability

Create a comparison chart of ethical duties, common violations, and their malpractice consequences

Synthesize all elements, defenses, and limitations rules into a single outline organized by claim stage

Complete a full-length timed practice exam under exam conditions and score it

Review every missed question and write a short rule statement for each error

Recite the elements, limitations periods, and key defenses from memory without notes