Does an attorney have a valid contract with a client where there is a pre-existing attorney-client relationship?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Walton v. Broglio, 125 Cal.Rptr. 123, 52 Cal.App.3d 400 (Cal. App. 1975):

In contracting with his client, where there is a pre-existing attorney-client relationship, the attorney is charged with a rebuttable presumption of undue influence and thus invalidity of the contract. (Bradner v. Vasquez (1954) 43 Cal.2d 147, 272 P.2d 11; Denton v. Smith (1951) 101 Cal.App.2d 841, 226 P.2d 723.) This rule is based upon section 2235 of the Civil Code, which reads as follows:

'All transactions between a trustee and his beneficiary during the existence of the

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