The First Appellate District reversed a judgment. The court held that a personal representative of an Oregon decedent’s estate had standing under both California and Oregon law to bring a legal malpractice action in California against a predecessor representative’s California attorneys.
William Smith (“decedent”) lived in California with his wife until 2000, when he and his wife Genevieve Smith moved to Oregon. The Smiths retained a California attorney, Jerry Cimmet, to represent them in an investigation of Smith’s business partner, Charles McPherson. They sought to determine whether they had any claims against McPherson. They were unable to resolve their business differences.
