In litigation this essentially means that a legal malpractice claim includes a case within a case the plaintiff must show that there would have been a different result if the lawyer provided a reasonable level of legal service this part of the case also establishes damages. While california legal malpractice law has evolved for over half a century and many nuances in the law and its application have developed over time the general principles that guide and govern the responsibility of an attorney to the client have remained virtually the same for example the attorney owes the client the basic duties of care loyalty condentiality and so on in. California legal malpractice law offers practical guidance including effective claim prevention and loss avoidance two cases in one defending a malpractice case requires not only an understanding of legal malpractice law but the substantive law of the underlying the lawsuit or transaction. California legal malpractice law american lawyer media 04162014 suzanne badawi is an author of a california law book titled california legal malpractice law published in 2014 by the alm the book offers practical guidance including effective claim prevention and loss avoidance information for california attorneys the book and a summary can be found at the following site http