It is never a good sign when the court of appeal opinion starts off:
“Sometimes lawyers seem to forget that, in their professional capacities, they owe a duty of loyalty to their clients — even when they no longer like them. And when a lawyer becomes convinced his client is on the wrong side of a particular legal dispute, the lawyer generally has the option of staying out of that dispute. He does not, however, have the option of switching sides and suing a client on behalf of a third party.”
Believe it or not, it goes downhill from there! The upshot of the decision is that a client is exercising her constitutional right to petition when she files a request to arbitrate a fee dispute. Subsequent litigation based on that filing is therefore subject to a special motion to strike under Code of Civil Procedure §425.16.
You might want to share this opinion with attorney in your office responsible for risk managment.