Professional Malpractice Demand Letter - California

CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL-SERVICES CLAIM AND DEMAND-DEVELOPMENT PACKET

DO NOT SEND THIS PACKET. It is an internal investigation and drafting
aid. Blank fields, sample headings, and unchecked boxes are unresolved and
are not allegations, admissions, demands, deadlines, or settlement terms.

1. Matter control

2. Claim and profession classification

A generic “professional malpractice” label does not select the governing claim.

Selected claim routes: [____________________________________________________________]

Excluded routes and why: [____________________________________________________________]

3. Deadline and precondition register

Do not copy a period from another profession or claim.

Earliest protected filing or notice deadline: [__/__/____ at ____]

Independent calendar review by: [________________________________]

4. Engagement and duty record

Counsel-approved duty theory: [____________________________________________________________]

5. Event chronology

Include retention, instructions, work, review, delivery, discovery, complaint,
repair, replacement, mitigation, termination, and loss events.

6. Standard and breach development

Expert needed? [UNRESOLVED / YES / NO]

Expert discipline and assignment: [________________________________]

Common-knowledge or other exception analysis: [________________________________]

No breach statement should enter a sent communication until counsel approves
its authority and factual basis.

7. Causation analysis

Address lost transaction, lost claim or defense, repair, delay, tax, fee,
regulatory, financing, business, and personal-injury theories separately.

8. Damages and remedy register

Potential categories for investigation only:

• Fees paid and replacement-professional expense
• Repair, redesign, correction, completion, or remediation
• Lost claim, defense, transaction, opportunity, profit, or value
• Tax, interest, penalty, financing, or carrying cost
• Property or personal injury
• Consequential, emotional, punitive, restitutionary, or equitable relief
• Costs, interest, attorney fees, and expert expense
• Setoff, comparative responsibility, mitigation, or collateral recovery

Items excluded from the demand and why: [____________________________________________________________]

9. Party and insurance map

Record individual professionals, firms, employers, contractors, consultants,
owners, clients, insurers, brokers, and other potentially responsible persons
without asserting liability prematurely.

10. Evidence and preservation register

Review agreements, files, communications, drafts, metadata, time records,
billing, calculations, drawings, models, source files, photographs, recordings,
inspection material, reports, policies, and damages records.

Separate preservation communication approved? [________________________________]

11. Confidentiality, privilege, and communication review

12. Settlement-position register

13. Counsel-drafted communication outline

Use only after the registers are complete:

1. Sender, recipient, and representation
2. Purpose and communication status
3. Engagement and service background
4. Chronology
5. Counsel-approved duty and standard
6. Specific alleged acts or omissions
7. Causation
8. Supported damages
9. Evidence or insurance request
10. Settlement proposal
11. Response route and date
12. Rights preserved
13. Enclosures

Draft location: [________________________________]

Statements excluded pending verification: [________________________________]

14. Send-control checklist

☐ Profession, parties, claims, forum, and governing authority are classified.

☐ Every deadline and precondition was independently calendared.

☐ Engagement scope and complete professional file were reviewed.

☐ Expert and certificate issues are resolved.

☐ Each breach, causation, and damages statement has record support.

☐ Privilege, confidentiality, settlement, licensing, and reporting effects were reviewed.

☐ Insurance and preservation routes are separately approved.

☐ Demand amount, nonmonetary terms, response date, and recipient have client approval.

☐ Enclosures are complete, redacted, and safe to transmit.

☐ California counsel approved the final communication.

END OF NONSENDABLE CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL-SERVICES CLAIM PACKET