Attorney Standard of Care
Opinions on whether counsel's conduct met the standard of care in California litigation, transactional supervision, and case handling.
Expert Witness Services
Timothy D. McGonigle
Forty years of California trial experience — retained as an expert witness on attorney standard of care, legal malpractice, fee disputes, and insurance bad faith.
- 40+
- Years practicing law
- $250M+
- Recovered for clients
- 100+
- 5 star ratings
- 2006
- Super Lawyers since
About the Expert
A trial lawyer's perspective, offered under oath
Timothy D. McGonigle is the principal trial attorney of Timothy D. McGonigle Prof. Corp. in Los Angeles, a litigation firm founded in 1989 that has obtained numerous multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements. He has practiced law for over forty years, trying jury and bench trials, arbitrations, and mediations throughout California.
The firm holds an "AV" rating — the highest available — reflecting a finding that its legal ability and ethics meet the very highest standard. Mr. McGonigle has been named to the list of Southern California Super Lawyers every year since 2006.
He has represented both lawyers and former clients of lawyers in fee disputes and malpractice cases against some of California's largest firms, including a six-week jury trial defending the former District Attorney of Los Angeles against eight-figure claims for legal malpractice, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty. In 2017 he obtained the 30th largest jury verdict in California ($3.7 million) in Said v. Centro Medico, and in 2021 he secured the #1 arbitration award in California as recognized by topverdict.com.
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Hear from Timothy D. McGonigle
Areas of Testimony
Subject matter expertise
Legal Malpractice & Causation
Case-within-a-case analysis, settlement value, and litigation judgment — including six-figure and eight-figure malpractice matters tried to verdict.
Attorney Fee Disputes
Reasonableness of fees, billing practices, fee agreements, and lien disputes in state court and mandatory fee arbitration.
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Conflicts of interest, client confidences, disclosure obligations, and the duty of loyalty owed by counsel.
Mishandling Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith
Claims handling, duty to defend, and the reasonableness of coverage positions, drawn from decades of coverage litigation.
Mishandling Employment & Business Litigation
Wrongful termination, discrimination and retaliation claims, and complex business tort matters tried before California juries.
Education
Georgetown University Law Center
LL.M., Securities Regulation (1984)
Pepperdine University
Juris Doctorate (1983)
University of Notre Dame
B.B.A. (1980)
Admissions & Honors
- State Bar of California (1984)
- District of Columbia Bar (1991)
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- Southern California Super Lawyer (2006–2026)
- Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles
- Former Executive Committee, Solo & Small Firm Section, State Bar of California
Published Decisions
- Letgolts v. David H. Pierce & Associates, PC, 71 Cal.App.5th 272 (2021)
- Switzer v. Wood, 35 Cal.App.5th 116 (2019)
- Shaoxing City Maolong etc. v. Keehn & Associates, 238 Cal.App.4th 1031 (2015)
- Dolnikov v. Ekizian (2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 419
- Mt. Holyoke Homes, LP v. Superior Court (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 1299
- Apex, LLC v. Sharing World (2012) 206 Cal.App.4th 999
- Markowitz v. Kachlon (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 316
- Arista Films, Inc. v. Gilford Securities, Inc. (1996) 43 Cal.App.4th 495
- Carlton v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. (1994) 30 Cal.App.4th 1450
Expert witness curriculum vitae
Full CV with education, employment history, published decisions, and representative matters — PDF, four pages.
Retain Mr. McGonigle
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10850 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 825
Los Angeles, California 90024
Phone: 1-800-713-5260
Fax: (888) 266-9410
Email: information@mcgoniglelaw.net