2984 An attorney owes a client a duty of reasonable care, and the question of whether that duty was breached by failing to opt the client out of a class action is one of fact for a jury; damage resulting from an employer's fraud may be the basis of an employee's tort action and, if negligence by the employee's attorney caused the employee to lose the possibility of bringing such an action, may be recoverable as compensatory damages in a malpractice action against the attorney; punitive damages that a client would have recovered had an attorney not been negligent in handling litigation are not recoverable as compensatory damages in a malpractice action against the attorney.CitationPISCITELLI v FRIEDENBERG (Opt Out) 87 CA4 953 [See: LabC 3600; CivC 3282, 3294; Smith v Lewis 13 C3 349; Merenda v Superior Court 3 CA4 1; Unigard v O'Flaherty 38 CA4 1229, T/AT 11/95; Shoemaker v Myers 52 C3 1; Fermino v Fedco, 7 C4 701, T/AT 6/94; Ramey v Gen Petroleum 173 CA2 386]
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