William A. Muñoz, Esq., is a Civil Trial Attorney, Legal Ethics Expert, and Third-Party Neutral with over 20 years of experience defending attorneys, and other professionals such as architects and engineers, real estate agents/brokers, real estate appraisers, and insurance brokers, as well as defending personal injury, toxic torts, products liability, defamation, wrongful termination / harassment, wage and hour and discrimination claims.
Mr. Muñoz is currently a member of the California State Bar Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (“COPRAC”) where the Committee interprets and issues opinions regarding legal ethics and the California Rules of Professional Conduct. Mr. Muñoz also serves as an arbitrator for the State Bar’s Mandatory Fee Arbitration program.
Mr. Muñoz previously served as the Chair for the Legal Malpractice Law Advisory Commission for the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization responsible for preparing and grading the legal malpractice law legal specialization examination as well as assessing the qualifications of potential applicants seeking the legal malpractice specialization designation and recertification.
Legal Malpractice Litigation Support - As a Subject Matter Expert, and with his wealth of experience, Mr. Muñoz is prepared to address the nuances of each case. His services are available to attorneys representing injured parties in the following areas:
- Standard of Care
- Conflicts of Interests
| - Legal Ethics
- Reasonableness of Attorney’s Fees
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Mr. Muñoz also serves as a Dispute Resolution Conference judge for El Dorado County Superior Court, a judge pro tem for Sacramento County Superior Court’s Settlement Conference Department, and more recently, a mediator for the Third District Court of Appeals Mediation Program. His approach is further informed by the renowned Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law mediation training program and the National Conflict Resolution Center mediation training program.
An expert in his field, Mr. Muñoz has presented locally and nationally on issues of legal malpractice, conflicts of interests and legal ethics and regularly contributes a column in the Association of Defense Counsel for Northern California and Nevada’s Defense Comment entitled “The Lawyer’s Lawyer” addressing issues of legal malpractice avoidance and legal ethics.
View Muñoz Dispute Resolution's Consulting Profile.
The Lawyer’s Lawyer is turning its attention to a situation that most of you have probably not considered in your practice, but have unknowingly participated in – business transactions with a client. The significance of this is that not recognizing when you are involved in a business transaction with a client,
Let's face it, as attorneys, the last thing that we want to deal with is a legal malpractice claim by a disgruntled former client who has gone the extra mile and sued us claiming that our conduct fell below the applicable standard of care and they were damaged as a result. If you have the misfortune of facing a legal malpractice claim that could conceivably be brought in either jurisdiction, the odds are that California is the more favorable venue.