Maynard
John B. Gunn Law Corp. v. Maynard
Opinion
Opinion
Agliano, J.
I
An attorney’s complaint, seeking compensation for services rendered based on a written contingent fee contract, encountered the client’s cross-complaint alleging legal malpractice. After trial, the jury returned verdicts which awarded the attorney $208,000 in damages for the client’s breach of the fee contract and rejected the cross-complaint. The client appeals from the ensuing judgment, which we will affirm on the complaint and reverse on the cross-complaint because of instructional error on the issue of proximate cause.
II
Background Facts
Defendant and cross-complainant Smilja Maynard (Mrs. Maynard) met Merlin Maynard on June 7, 1975, when he employed her as a part-time live-in housekeeper. At the time he was 75 years old and affected by Parkinson’s disease. She was then 55. In August, she assumed the position full-time, and they married on September 12, 1975.
In April 1976, they contacted John Hopkins, an attorney, to prepare a will for Dr. Maynard. Mr. Hopkins learned that some of Dr. Maynard’s assets were in a living trust created when Dr. Maynard’s first wife was alive. In investigating the facts, Mr. Hopkins was incorrectly apprised the residence real…