Our lawyers are well-versed in defending professional malpractice lawsuits and represent lawyers, insurance agents and brokers, appraisers, real estate brokers and agents, accountants, escrow officers, doctors, dentists, psychiatrists, social workers, employment agencies, property managers, notary publics, on-line and internet services, mortgage bankers and mortgage brokers, actuaries, funeral directors, morticians, publishers and newspapers, debt collectors, collection agencies and lenders, consumer credit reporting agencies, and pension professionals in errors and omissions claims.

Our attorneys have extensive experience in representing insurance agents and brokers in cases involving:

• failure to procure;
  
  
• failure to advise;
  
  
• placement of insurance with non-admitted insurance companies;
  
  
• claimed misappropriation of client funds;
  
  
• incorrect completion of applications.
  

Also, we have represented real estate brokers and agents in cases involving:

• alleged failure to inspect property;
  
  
• intentional misrepresentation;
  
  
• failure to disclose;
  
  
• easement cases;
  
  
• foreclosure cases;
  
  
• claims involving the miscalculation of square footage in lot size;
  
  
• misappropriation of funds;
  
  
• claims that the property sold was environmentally contaminated;
  
  
• a number of other cases, including one involving two wrongful deaths which resulted from the failure of a balcony.
  
  
• failure to make a due diligence inspection for the benefit of the buyer;
  
  
• two fraudulent conveyances;
  
  
• fraudulent second deeds of trust with allegations of fraud stemming from representing that a house had beach access when un fact it did not;
  
  
• failure to detect mold prior to the sale of house to plaintiffs.
  

With regard to attorney malpractice litigation, one of our founding partners, Jeffery Carlson, defended Paul Morantz in an action brought against him by the Synanon Foundation for abuse of process and malicious prosecution. This case was highly publicized because of the notorious attack on Mr. Morantz, in which a rattlesnake (shorn of its rattle) was placed in Mr. Morantz's mailbox, allegedly by members of the "Imperial Marines" of the Synanon Foundation, at the direction of its leader, Charles Dederich. Mr. Carlson guided this case to a very successful resolution for the defense.

We have represented lawyers in cases regarding claims involving such diverse issues as:

• statutes of limitations;
  
  
• failure to sue the correct party;
  
  
• failure to present timely claims to a government agency;
  
  
• claimed negligence in leasing, real estate and commercial transactions.
  

In addition, our lawyers have represented lawyers in malpractice actions involving:

• alleged RICO violations;
  
  
• securities regulations violations;
  
  
• defamation;
  
  
• family law;
  
  
• marital dissolution;
  
  
• probate matters.
  

Since the early 1980's attorneys in our firm have represented collection agencies and lenders in FDCPA claims, and we have defended several class action cases in the Federal Court in Los Angeles alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act, and involving definitions of interest and penalties under state and federal law. Our extensive experience includes cases with claims of:

• negligent collection procedures;
  
  
• intentional misconduct;
  
  
• violation of the FDCPA and Fair Credit Reporting Agencies Act.
  

We have experience in representing appraisers in cases involving claims of violation of federal banking and securities regulations and negligent real estate appraisal. We have represented accountants in cases involving limited partnerships and alleged securities violations.

Our attorneys have significant experience representing pension consultants in cases involving alleged ERISA violations. Additionally, our attorneys have represented property management companies, escrow officers, and notary publics.

We have extensive experience representing employment agencies in cases as diverse as:

• negligent workmanship at a construction site involving a temporary employee;
  
  
• representation of management in sexual orientation cases;
  
  
• defense of employment agency allegedly engaged in gender discrimination;
  
  
• defense of sexual harassment claim against employment agency;
  
  
• ADA cases involving employment agencies including a case of a terminated employee who had a sleep disorder and sued the company for wrongful termination. The case was successfully defended and we resolved it for a waiver of costs.
  

Our lawyers have also handled various miscellaneous professional liability matters, including:

• defense of a yellow pages publisher in a case brought by a criminal defense attorney whose ad was listed in the wrong page of the book - in the adult massage area of the phone book;
  
  
• another yellow pages publisher in which a telephone number was published with the digits transposed so that an individual kept getting phone calls all night long for a criminal defense attorney. The attorney was making a large claim for economic harm due to the loss of business;
  
  
• representation of a local advertising newspaper, which has now grown to be one of the largest of its kind in the nation;
  
  
• various trademark infringement cases involving publications and republications of trademarks;
  
  
• defending various Lanham Act cases;
  
  
• defense of a newspaper publisher in which a spiteful person purposely caused the newspaper to publish an enemy's cell phone number in the paper in order to increase the cell phone bill.
  

Lawyers in the firm have also defended physicians and hospitals. Medical malpractice cases have included:

• bad baby cases (i.e., failure to perform a timely Caesarian section with claimed anoxia (brain damage));
  
  
• failure to diagnose cancer;
  
  
• wrongful diagnosis of cancer;
  
  
• failure to timely diagnose post-operative complications.
  

Our lawyers have defended such hospitals as Cedars-Sinai, UCLA, St. Joseph's, Good Samaritan, Long Beach Memorial and Pioneer Hospital. These cases included, for example:

• bad baby cases (typically an alleged failure to diligently watch the fetal monitor and report fetal distress positions);
  
  
• nursing malpractice;
  
  
• trips or slips;
  
  
• failure to detect or report a patient's deteriorating condition to his physician;
  
  
• dispensing the wrong medication to patients.