DiPalma

Plaintiff and appellant Benito DiPalma (DiPalma) appeals a judgment following a grant of nonsuit in favor of defendants and respondents Norman Seldman (Seldman) and Garcia & Seldman, Inc., a professional corporation (Garcia & Seldman) (sometimes collectively referred to as Seldman).

The essential issue presented is whether the trial court properly granted nonsuit in this legal malpractice action on the ground DiPalma failed to show the judgment in the underlying case was collectible.

A plaintiff who establishes legal malpractice in prosecuting a claim must also prove careful management would have resulted in a favorable judgment and collection of same. (Campbell v. Magana (1960) 184 Cal.App.2d 751, 754 [ 8 Cal.Rptr. 32 ].) There is no damage in the absence of these latter elements. (Ibid.)

To the extent the alleged malpractice involved Seldman’s advising DiPalma to quitclaim certain property to James Bloom (Mr. Bloom) and Marjorie Bloom (collectively, the Blooms), rather than Seldman’s failure to enforce the judgment against the Blooms, the issue of the Blooms’ solvency was irrelevant to whether DiPalma was damaged by counsel’s legal advice.

Collectibility was an…