Moua

Lilas Moua (appellant) appeals from a judgment entered after the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Pittullo, Howington, Barker, Abernathy, LLP, P. Timothy Pittullo (Pittullo) and Jonathon A. Zitney (Zitney) (collectively respondents) on appellant’s claim against respondents for legal malpractice. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Appellant was bom and educated in the United States. She began living with Alex Ng (Ng) in 1998. Appellant and Ng participated in a traditional Hmong marriage ceremony in February 2000. Ng paid a dowry, and they lived together as husband and wife. Ng signed numerous formal documents and filed tax returns indicating he was married. The couple had two children together. Appellant believed she was married to Ng. Ng informed appellant that he would take care of any papers or documents that were needed with respect to the marriage. However, no marriage license was ever obtained.

On April 9, 2009, appellant retained respondents to assist her in obtaining a property settlement and child support from Ng. On April 23, 2009, respondents filed a petition for dissolution of marriage in the matter captioned Moua v. Ng, (Super. Ct. San Bernardino…