Bonta

This is an action under Welfare and Institutions Code section 14124.70 et seq. Under that statutory scheme, “[w]hen benefits are . . . provided to a beneficiary . . . because of an injury for which another person is liable . . . the director [of the Department of Health Services] shall have a right to recover from such person ... the reasonable value of benefits so provided.” (§ 14124.71, subd. (a).) The statutory scheme also provides that the Director of the Department of Health Services (Director) has a direct right of action, assertable as a lien against judgment or settlement proceeds, for recovery of monies spent to treat indigent tort victims. (§§ 14124.74, 14124.78; Wright v. Department of Benefit Payments (1979) 90 Cal.App.3d 446, 452-453 [ 153 Cal.Rptr. 474 ].)

Here, the Director, appellant Diana M. Bonta', sought to recover from respondents Nathaniel J. Friedman and the Law Offices of Nathaniel J. Friedman the sum of $16,258, which the Department of Health Services (Department), through the Medi-Cal program, paid for the medical care of Keyna Day (Day). Respondents represented Day in a malpractice action which was partially settled in the amount of $825,000.…