Mattco Forge, Inc. v. Arthur Young & Co.

Introduction

The litigation privilege in Civil Code section 47, subdivision (b), has at times seemed to protect virtually anyone participating in litigation from subsequent suit. Nevertheless, California precedent does not authorize, and the policies underlying the privilege do not support, its use to protect a negligent expert witness from liability to the party who hired that witness. We therefore conclude that the trial court erroneously relied upon the privilege in granting summary judgment in favor of the expert witness.

The case at bench arose out of litigation in federal district court between Mattco Forge, Inc. (Mattco) and General Electric (General Electric). In that suit Mattco engaged Arthur Young & Co. (Arthur Young) to perform litigation support accounting work. After the dismissal of that underlying suit against General Electric, the second amended complaint filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court by plaintiffs Mattco and Mateo Minguez named as defendants Arthur Young, Richard E. Lamping, Thomas W. Blumer, and Ernst & Young. Against one or more of each of these defendants, the second amended complaint alleged causes of action for professional malpractice,…