In Ferguson v. Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1037, the high court held that for public policy reasons punitive damages allegedly lost in an underlying action cannot be recovered as compensatory damages in a legal malpractice action. The court explained that "making a negligent attorney liable for lost punitive damages would not serve a societal interest, because the attorney did not commit and had no control over the intentional misconduct justifying the punitive damages award. Imposing liability for lost punitive damages on negligent attorneys would therefore neither punish the culpable tortfeasor ... nor deter that tortfeasor and others from committing similar wrongful acts in the future." (Ferguson, supra, 30 Cal.4th at pp. 1046-1047.) The court also concluded "permitting recovery of lost punitive damages would violate the public policy against speculative damages" (id. at p. 1048), "the complex standard of proof applicable to claims for lost punitive damages militates against the recovery of such damages" (id. at p. 1049), and "allowing recovery of lost punitive damages as compensatory damages in a legal malpractice action may exact a significant social cost" through increased malpractice insurance or exclusion of coverage for malpractice actions. (Id. at p. 1050.)