What should I ask before hiring a malpractice lawyer in California?

Ask who funds the expert costs and what happens to them if the case fails, how the sliding-scale fee limit of Business and Professions Code section 6146 applies, who performs the records review, and how the one-year discovery deadline is being protected. Verify the attorney's license and discipline history in the State Bar of California's records.

Because malpractice cases are screened before they are accepted, the useful questions are specific. Ask how the office conducts its review — which records it will order, whether a physician in the relevant field evaluates the case before filing, and how long screening takes, since the one-year discovery clock of Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5 runs throughout. Ask about money directly: California caps the contingency fee in these cases by statute (Business and Professions Code section 6146, on a sliding scale updated by AB 35), so fee structures are comparable across offices; what differs is who advances the substantial expert and record costs and whether the client owes them if the case is unsuccessful. Ask whether an arbitration agreement from the provider's intake paperwork likely applies, whether the 90-day notice under section 364 has been calendared, and who will personally handle the file. Then confirm the attorney is active and discipline-free in the State Bar of California's public records.

Authority: Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 6146