3:9 Choice of Law

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 3:9 Choice of Law

A question that sometimes arises is whether the standard of care for Arizona or for another state applies in a particular legal malpractice case where negligence is asserted.

In Collins v. Miller & Miller Ltd.,^[113] an Arizona corporation, whose president was domiciled in Arizona, hired an Arizona attorney to litigate a matter in Minnesota. The attorney failed to file suit in a timely matter and the client later sued for negligence. The client produced an affidavit from an Arizona attorney, asserting that the attorney who failed to timely file in Minnesota had been negligent.

The defendant attorney argued “that the applicable standard of care in this malpractice action should be that of a Minnesota lawyer.”^[114] The Arizona Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that “(t)he attorney-client relationship was formed in Arizona and conducted primarily in this state. In these circumstances, the standard of care for an attorney is an Arizona standard “^[115]

The issue arose again in Bobbitt v. Milberg L.L.P.,^[116] a very unusual case. In Bobbitt, a class action law firm litigated a securities class action in Arizona and got a nationwide class certified. The securities class action was later dismissed, because the plaintiffs’ class action firm failed to timely disclose experts.

Another class action firm then brought a legal...