Months after losing a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed by one of its longtime prosecutors, the San Diego City Attorney’s Office has sued the outside law firm and one of its then-lawyers for malpractice and other alleged lapses.
City Attorney Mara Elliott is suing lawyer William Price and Burke, Williams & Sorensen, the firm she hired to defend against a case brought by former assistant city attorney Marlea Dell’Anno.
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The lawsuit, filed last week in San Diego Superior Court, accuses the firm and its former partner of mishandling the case, which earlier this year ended with a $3.9 million jury verdict against the city.
“Defendants breached the duty of an attorney to discharge duties faithfully to the best of their knowledge and ability,” the suit says. “As a direct, foreseeable and proximate result of defendants’ conduct, the city has suffered substantial economic losses.”
Neither Burke nor Price responded to requests for comment on the allegations.
According to the suit, Price was defending the city in