Opinion
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Super. Ct. No. GC036219 Jan A. Pluim, Judge. Modified.
Foley & Lardner, Michael P. McCloskey and Jessica N. Pandica for Defendant and Appellant.
Law Offices of Peter L. Tripodes and Peter L. Tripodes for Plaintiff and Respondent.
ARMSTRONG, J.
Background
This is an appeal from a judgment in a legal malpractice action in which the trial court found that the defendant law firm, Foley & Lardner, and two of its attorneys, Gregory V. Moser and Kenneth S. Klein, erroneously advised plaintiff that as a board member of a city council he had standing to sue the very board on which he sits. Judgment was entered against all defendants on various legal theories (all based on the same negligent act) for the amount of legal fees Benjamin F. Venti had paid defendants, together with interest on said sums. The parties have entered into a stipulated agreement whereby the parties ratify part of the judgment and reverse other parts of the judgment. Pursuant to the agreement, Foley & Lardner accepts responsibility for the legal error committed by its attorneys and agrees that plaintiff Benjamin F. Venti shall have judgment on the professional negligence and breach of contract causes of action against Foley & Lardner and shall recover from Foley & Lardner the damages awarded to him by the judgment. The parties have further agreed that the judgment may be modified to provide that judgment may be entered in favor of Foley & Lardner and Moser and Klein on the second cause of action of action for breach of fiduciary duties and fourth cause of action for negligent misrepresentation and that judgment may be entered in favor of Moser and Klein on the first cause of action for professional negligence, and the third cause of action for breach of contract. Modifying the judgment this way does not affect the amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff by the judgment.
Discussion
As we stated in Union Bank of California v. Braille Institute of America, Inc. (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 1324: "Thus, in order for a stipulated reversal to be accepted, an appellate court must find: there is no reasonable possibility that the interests of the non parties or the public will be adversely affected; the reasons for the requested reversal do not outweigh the erosion public trust resulting from such action; and the stipulated reversal does not reduce the incentive for pretrial settlement."
Although the plaintiff paled four causes of action and the trial court entered judgment on each cause of action for the same amount of damages, the case is essentially a legal malpractice action between a former client and his attorneys. There is no reasonable possibility that non parties or the public will be interested in or adversely affected because the partial reversals do not affect the amount of damages awarded Benjamin F. Venti by the trial court. Since the stipulation provides judgment will be entered against Foley & Lardner for all damages suffered by Benjamin F. Venti as a result of the negligence of Foley & Lardner and that of its attorneys, there is no possibility of erosion of public trust by reason of our acceptance of the stipulation. The fact that the stipulation requires judgment for the full amount of damages to be entered against Foley & Lardner enhances the incentive for pretrial settlement. The stipulated agreement is approved.
Disposition
Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 43, the Court of Appeal hereby orders that the trial judgment in this matter is modified as follows:
"The language of Paragraph 1 of the judgment (p. 2:6-13) is deleted and replaced by the following language:
"On the First Cause of Action for Professional Negligence and the Third Cause of Action for Breach of Contract, judgment is entered in favor of plaintiff BENJAMIN F. VENTI and against defendant FOLEY & LARDNER, LLP. Plaintiff BENJAMIN F. VENTI shall have and recover from defendant FOLEY & LARDNER, LLP the sum of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHT AND 96/100 ($156,908.96) dollars, plus interest on the sum of $50,000. 00 from April 2, 2002, on the sum of $50,000 from July 11, 2002, on the sum of $15,000 from January 7, 2003, on the sum of $19,308.96 from November 5, 2003, and on the sum of $22,600 from December 10, 2004, for total interest to date of entry of Judgment of $62,607.07, for a total of principal and interest of $219,516.03.
"On the Second Cause of Action for Breach of Fiduciary Duties and the Fourth Cause of Action for Negligent Misrepresentation, judgment is entered in favor of defendants FOLEY & LARDNER, LLP, GREGORY V. MOSER AND KENNETH S. KLEIN.
"On the First Cause of Action for Professional Negligence and the Third Cause of Action for Breach of Contract, judgment is entered in favor of defendants GREGORY V. MOSER and KENNETH S. KLEIN.
"The trial court's Statement of Decision is deemed to be modified to conform with the Judgment as modified herein."
We concur: TURNER, P. J., KRIEGLER, J.