(a) A client who suffers any damage as the result of a violation of this article by any lawyer may bring an action against that person to recover or obtain one or more of the following remedies:

(1) Actual damages, but in no case shall the total award of damages in a class action be less than five thousand dollars ($5,000).

Terms Used In California Business and Professions Code 6175.4

  • Client: means a person who has, within the three years preceding the sale of financial products by a lawyer to that person, employed that lawyer for legal services. See California Business and Professions Code 6175
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Lawyer: means a licensee of the State Bar or a person who is admitted and in good standing and eligible to practice before the bar of any United States court or the highest court of the District of Columbia or any state, territory, or insular possession of the United States, or licensed to practice law in, or is admitted in good standing and eligible to practice before the bar of the highest court of, a foreign country or any political subdivision thereof, and includes any agent of the lawyer or law firm or law corporation doing business in the state. See California Business and Professions Code 6175
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15

(2) An order enjoining the violation.

(3) Restitution of property.

(4) Punitive damages.

(5) Any other relief that the court deems proper.

(b) A client may seek and be awarded, in addition to the remedies specified in subdivision (a), an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) where the trier of fact (1) finds that the client has suffered substantial physical, emotional, or economic damage resulting from the defendant‘s conduct, (2) makes an affirmative finding in regard to one or more of the factors set forth in subdivision (b) of § 3345 of the Civil Code, and (3) finds that an additional award is appropriate. Judgment in a class action may award each class member the additional award where the trier of fact has made the foregoing findings.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 454, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2000.)

  Previous section
Next section  
 Article 10.5 Contents