Woodruff O'Hair Posner & Salinger Inc Malpractice Case: Settlement Conference and Trial Scheduled in $1 million Lawsuit Against Firm and Partner Tom Woodruff

Judge Pro Tem D. Thomas Woodruff and Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner & Salinger $1 Million Legal Malpractice Case Set for Trial

Wei-Jen (Harrison) Luan is suing for legal malpractice family law attorney and Judge Pro Tem D. Thomas Woodruff and the firm Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner & Salinger. The suit was filed in 2004 and claims more than $1 million in damages.

A settlement conference and trial have been calendared for the long-running legal malpractice lawsuit against family law attorney and Judge Pro Tem Thomas Woodruff, and the law firm Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner and Salinger, Inc. The settlement conference is scheduled for April 4, 2013, with trial set to begin on May 14 in Department 47 of the downtown Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse. 

Woodruff and the firm are being sued by Wei-Jen (Harrison) Luan, who alleges that Woodruff's malpractice during her divorce resulted in more than $1 million in losses in connection with the botched sale of real property held in a family trust. According to the 2004 lawsuit complaint: 

"Attorney Woodruff's breaches of duty, as alleged above, were a proximate and legal cause of substantial damage, loss and injury to plaintiff. Plaintiff's damages include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: the purchaser sued Wei-Jen for specific performance and damages, claiming in excess of $1 million in losses. Wei-Jen is threatened with suit from the brokers for commissions in excess of $100,000 that would have been paid had the sale and exchange been consummated."

Click here to read the complaint for legal malpractice filed against Woodruff and Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner & Salinger. 

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 2010 Motion To Dismiss Lawsuit Denied 

D. Thomas Woodruff and his firm
Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner & Salinger
are defendants in a legal malpractice action
alleging over $1 million in damages.

In July, 2010 Woodruff and the firm unsuccessfully attempted to get the case dismissed by motion for summary adjudication. Click here to read the points and authorities filed by the firm and Woodruff in support of motion. Click here for the points and authorities filed by the plaintiff in opposition. In a detailed, 12-page ruling Sacramento County Superior Court Judge David I. Brown denied the motion. Click here to read the decision by Judge Brown. 

Firm Attorneys Also Hold Office of Temporary Judge

All four attorneys at Woodruff, O'Hair, Posner and Salinger also serve as temporary judges, and are, or were active in the Sacramento County Bar Association Family Law Executive Committee, or FLEC. Judge Pro Tem Robert O'Hair has held each committee office twice, according to his own sworn testimony at the Commission on Judicial Performance disciplinary proceeding of twice-CJP-disciplined family court Judge Peter J. McBrien. O'Hair testified on behalf of McBrien as a character witness when the ethically-challenged judge was fighting misconduct charges and facing removal from the bench in 2009. 

As a sworn temporary judge, O'Hair is required by the Code of Judicial Ethics to take corrective action if he learns that another judge has violated the Code. Click here for a Judicial Council directive about the obligation to take corrective action. It is unclear how O'Hair reconciled instead testifying on behalf of McBrien. Click here to read O'Hair's complete testimony. 

From 2006-2009, firm partner and Judge Pro Tem Jeffrey Posner cycled through each office on the Family Law Executive Committee. This year, firm junior partner and Temporary Judge Paula Salinger began her tour of duty as secretary of the committee. In 2011, Judge Steve White enabled Salinger to prematurely become a judge pro tem by issuing an order waiving a state mandated requirement to assume the Office of Temporary Judge. Click here to read our report on the controversial waiver, which a court watchdog alleges was an example of family court judge-attorney cronyism. 

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