Chicago Legal Malpractice Lawyer Blog
The case is captioned William Molim Siu v. The Cavanagh Law Firm, 1-CA-CV 17-0601 (Arizona Court of Appeals).
Siu sued his former lawyer for alleged negligence in handling Siu’s divorce case. The divorce case was heard by an Arbitrator who ruled that certain property owned by Siu before the marriage became community property when it was deposited in joint accounts. Siu tried to appeal but his appeal [of the underlying case] was dismissed. Siu alleged that his lawyer had (a) contracted away his right to appeal, and (b) failed to retain a forensic accounting expert.
Cavanagh moved for summary judgment and his motion was granted. Siu appealed. The Court of Appeals found that there was “substantial evidence to support the Arbitrator’s decision [in the underlying divorce case.]” Therefore, Siu could not prove that any error by the lawyer was the proximate cause of his alleged loss.
In other words, the legal malpractice case had no merit because the underlying decision of the Arbitrator in the family law case was correct.
For further information on proximate causation, please consult out legal malpractice webpage. https://www.clintonlaw.net/legal-malpractice.html