Former Major League Baseball All-Star outfielder Lenny Dykstra sued a law firm Tuesday, alleging the attorneys were negligent in while representing him in a lawsuit in which he claimed he was beaten by sheriff’s deputies in the Men’s Central Jail and again later at a hospital.
Dykstra, acting as his own lawyer, filed the complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against Boucher LLP. The suit alleges professional negligence, breach of contract, fraudulent concealment and that the firm put its interests ahead of Dykstra’s.
A man who answered the phone at the Woodland Hills firm declined to comment on Dykstra’s complaint.
The suit alleges Boucher LLP lawyers did not conduct meaningful trial preparation and discovery during a 14-month period, actions amounting to “attorney misconduct and client abandonment.”
The suit further alleges lawyers for Boucher LLP did not do enough to determine the alleged involvement of numerous deputies or request the extra time needed to serve them with the complaint. Dykstra’s complaint against the deputies was filed in April 2014. He hired Boucher LLP to begin representing him in the case in September 2015, the suit states.
“Plaintiff is informed and believes … that, but for the aforementioned professional negligence of the defendants … plaintiff would have received and recovered a better result in his (lawsuit),” the new complaint states.
Dykstra dropped what remained of his case against the deputies in December while he was being represented by a different lawyer. The decision came two months after Judge Daniel Murphy, citing immunity, ruled that Dykstra could not move forward with the part of his case against Los Angeles County. Murphy also tossed allegations against a sheriff’s sergeant, leaving one deputy as the remaining defendant in the case.
Dykstra alleged that on April 5, 2012, deputies at the jail entered his cell and assaulted him for no legitimate reason. He claimed they slammed his head against a wall, that some of his teeth were knocked out and he that he was left barely breathing.
The suit against the county and the deputies alleged the jail system was “fueled by abusive violence.” Defense attorneys maintained in their court papers that Dykstra became combative.
Dykstra also alleged he was beaten again later at Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park, where he was treated for injuries from the jail incident. Dykstra said deputies at the hospital punched him in the face at least twice, causing him to lose at minimum one tooth.
The alleged beatings took place the same month Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist. He was already serving time for grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement, and would later be sentenced to six months for bankruptcy fraud.
Dykstra was released in June 2013 and filed suit the following April.
Dykstra played for the New York Mets from 1985-89 and Philadelphia Phillies from 1989-96. He was selected to play in the 1990, 1994 and 1995 All- Star Games.
Dykstra, 54, was nicknamed “Nails” for his hard-nosed demeanor. He was born in Santa Ana and raised in Garden Grove.
