(excerpt)
Okay, so malpractice claims are somewhat different now than they were ten years ago, and when times get tough, the chances of becoming a target may rise. But the important question remains: What are the chances that a malpractice claim will have a damaging effect on one's career? Surprisingly, malpractice attorneys on both sides of the aisle say the chances are slim, unless an attorney is doing something really dishonest. First of all, investigators for the State Bar's discipline system rarely get involved in most malpractice claims. Negligence, unless it's repetitive, doesn't violate the Rules of Professional Conduct. Nor, conversely, is an ethics violation necessarily an element of malpractice. "The State Bar doesn't even make our radar screen," says Guy D. Calladine of San Francisco's Carlson, Calladine & Peterson. "If an investigator sends us a letter, we just inform the bar that the case is in litigation, and the matter drops."
Perhaps the fastest-growing malpractice claims category is conflicts of interest. Conflicts claims arise when an attorney fails to disclose a conflict between clients or obtain written consent for representing two or more parties whose interests are adverse. Malpractice attorneys attribute the boom in conflicts claims to the changing structure of the profession. "Through mergers, big firms have become megafirms," says Donald W. Carlson of San Francisco's Carlson, Calladine & Peterson, a professional and products liability boutique spun off from Long & Levit. "The profession is more impersonal today, there's less client contact, and it's harder to have quality control."
PLAINTIFFS
Mark B. Abelson
Campagnoli, Abelson & Campagnoli, San Francisco
James S. Bostwick
Bostwick & Associates, San Francisco
William C. Callaham
Dreyer, Babich, Buccola & Callaham, Sacramento
William Gwire
San Francisco
James D. Mart
Mart & deVries, Sacramento
Dan L. Stanford
Stanford & Associates, San Diego
Tanya Starnes
Berkeley
Peter R. Thompson
Thompson & Thompson, San Diego
Deborah A. Wolfe
Nugent & Newnham, San Diego
DEFENSE
On the defense side, the malpractice attorneys who have achieved the most prominence also make up a relatively small circle. These heavy hitters include:
Thomas H. Ault
Ault, Davis & Schonfeld, San Diego
Robert C. Baker and Karl A. Keener
Baker, Keener & Nahra, Santa Monica
Douglas M. Butz
Butz Dunn DeSantis & Bingham, San Diego
Guy D. Calladine and Donald W. Carlson (also represent plaintiffs)
Carlson, Calladine and Peterson, San Francisco
Jerry Coughlan and Robert Semmer
Coughlan, Semmer & Lipman, San Diego
Kevin Culhane
Hansen, Boyd, Culhane & Watson, Sacramento
John M. Drath
Drath, Clifford, Murphy, Wennerholm & Hagen, Oakland
Peter Q. Ezzell and John Sheller
Haight Brown & Bonesteel, Los Angeles
Timothy J. Halloran, James A. Murphy, and Michael P. Bradley
Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney, San Francisco
H. Gilbert Jones, Douglas R. Reynolds, and R. Gaylord Smith
Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, Costa Mesa, San Diego
Earl H. Maas III
Maas Miyamoto & Bernstein, San Diego
Ronald E. Mallen
Hinshaw & Culbertson, San Francisco
Edith R. Matthai
Robie & Matthai, Los Angeles
Joseph P. McMonigle
Long & Levit, San Francisco
David B. Parker (also represents plaintiffs)
Parker Mills & Patel, Los Angeles
Pamela Phillips
Rogers, Joseph, O'Donnell & Phillips, San Francisco
Daniel M. White
White, Noon & Oliver, San Diego