Skarbrevik

Attorney Stuart A. Comis and the law firm of Cohen, England & Whitfield appeal from a judgment entered against them and in favor of plaintiff Gunnar Skarbrevik after a jury trial on the issues of conspiracy to defraud and professional negligence. The principal questions presented in this appeal concern the liability of counsel of a close corporation to a minority shareholder for professional negligence, and the liability of a corporate attorney for conspiring with majority shareholders to defraud the minority shareholder by wrongfully diluting his interest in the corporation.

We hold that defendant attorneys owed no legal duty to plaintiff, and thus conclude that the court erred in submitting the theory of professional negligence to the jury. We further hold that plaintiff’s cause of action for conspiracy to defraud against Comis is barred by principles announced in Wise v. Southern Pacific Co. (1963) 223 Cal.App.2d 50 [ 35 Cal.Rptr. 652 ], Gruenberg v. Aetna Ins. Co. (1973) 9 Cal.3d 566 [ 108 Cal.Rptr. 480 , 510 P.2d 1032 ] and Doctors’ Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 49 Cal.3d 39 [ 260 Cal.Rptr. 183 , 775 P.2d 508 ]. For these reasons, we reverse the judgment.

Procedural…