Protect the practice you built.

How long a malpractice claim can follow you

California's legal malpractice deadline is Code of Civil Procedure section 340.6. For claims other than actual fraud, a client must sue within one year after discovering, or through reasonable diligence should have discovered, the facts of the wrongful act or omission, or four years from the act or omission, whichever comes first.

The statute says the period is tolled while any of these exist:

• The client has not sustained actual injury.
• The lawyer continues to represent the client on the specific subject matter in which the alleged wrongful act or omission occurred.
• The lawyer willfully conceals the facts constituting the wrongful act or omission (this tolls only the four-year limit).
• The client is under a legal or physical disability that restricts the ability to commence legal action.
• A fee or cost dispute is pending under the State Bar Act's fee arbitration article, from the date a request for arbitration is filed until 30 days after notice of the award, or notice that the arbitration otherwise ended, whichever comes first.

Where the client must prove factual innocence of an underlying criminal charge, the deadline is two years after postconviction exoneration. For a written instrument whose effective date depends on a future act or event, such as some estate documents, the period starts when that act or event occurs.

Why this matters for insurance: lawyers professional liability is usually written on a claims-made basis, so the policy in place when a claim is made, subject to its retroactive date, is the one asked to respond, not the policy in place when the work was done. Tolling means old files can surface years later. When you retire, close a firm or switch carriers, ask about the extended reporting period options and how your retroactive date carries over. Outside California, deadlines and tolling vary by state.

What gets reported to the State Bar

Several California statutes route a malpractice claim to the State Bar, so look closely at how any quote handles disciplinary proceedings.

• The lawyer's own report (B&P 6068(o)). A lawyer must report to the State Bar in writing within 30 days of knowing of, among other events, three or more lawsuits in a 12-month period alleging malpractice or other wrongful conduct in a professional capacity; a civil judgment for fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty or gross negligence in a professional capacity; judicial sanctions (except discovery sanctions and monetary sanctions under $1,000); and discipline by a professional or occupational licensing body, in California or elsewhere. Failure to report may serve as a basis of discipline.
• The insurer's report (B&P 6086.8(b)). Every claim or action for damages against a lawyer for fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty or negligence in a professional capacity must be reported to the State Bar within 30 days of receipt by the admitted insurer or licensed surplus brokers providing the lawyer's professional liability insurance.
• Uninsured lawyers report themselves (B&P 6086.8(c)). A lawyer without professional liability insurance must send the State Bar a complete written report of any such settlement, judgment or arbitration award.
• Courts report too (B&P 6086.8(a)). Within 20 days after a judgment holding a lawyer liable for fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty or gross negligence in a professional capacity, the court reports it in writing.

Under the Client Trust Account Protection Program, during the annual renewal period California lawyers register each IOLTA and non-IOLTA account, report its December 31 balance, complete a self-assessment of trust account practices and certify compliance with rule 1.15. The State Bar set March 30, 2026 as this year's reporting deadline. Before renewal, ask how your malpractice policy treats a loss of client funds held in trust, and look at cyber and funds-transfer fraud coverage and, for firm retirement plans, fiduciary liability.