Lfmg-S&b, LLC v. Buchalter Nemer

707 F. App'x 928

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: December 21, 2017
• Docket: 16-55879
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ***

1. In California, legal malpractice claims may be assigned only under narrow circumstances. See White Mountains Reinsurance Co. of Am. v. Borton Petrini, LLP, 221 Cal. App. 4th 890, 892, 164 Cal.Rptr.3d 912 (2013). LFMG’s acquisition didn’t include other “assets, rights, obligations, [or] liabilities,” so the malpractice claim wasn’t assigned as an “incidental part of a larger commercial transfer.” Id. The transfer was also functionally “analogous to the assignment of a bare [malpractice] cause of action” because the claims against Fortress were time-barred. Id. at 909, 164 Cal.Rptr.3d 912. The original client was not an insurance company. Id. at 892, 164 Cal.Rptr.3d 912. Nor did Buchalter and the Trust communicate through third parties. Id. The assignment here comes nowhere close to satisfying the White Mountains test.

2. The district court didn’t err in affirming the bankruptcy court’s refusal to grant leave .to amend. Even if LFMG were a third-party beneficiary, the statute of limitations would have run on the malpractice claim. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.6(a).

AFFIRMED.

*** xhis disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.