Kroll & Tract v. Paris & Paris

Sound policy reasons prohibit an attorney sued for malpractice by a former client from cross-complaining for indemnity against the client’s successor attorney. Here, we are asked to decide whether these same concerns should bar an indemnity cross-complaint between two independent attorneys who concurrently represented the dissatisfied client, one as insurance defense counsel and one as Cumis 1 counsel, where the client subsequently sued only one of the attorneys. We hold that public policy considerations preclude such a cross-complaint for indemnity and affirm the trial court’s order sustaining the demurrer without leave to amend.

Facts

Charles Giguere and his company, San Jose Crane & Rigging, Inc. (collectively, San Jose Crane) were sued by the purchasers of an allegedly defective crane. San Jose Crane’s personal counsel, Paris & Paris, filed a demurrer to the complaint; the defense was then tendered to the company’s liability insurer. Kroll & Tract was retained by the insurer to provide a defense under a full reservation of rights, and it associated as counsel with Paris & Paris. Five months later, Paris & Paris filed a cross-complaint on *1541 behalf of San Jose…