Professional Negligence

Appellant solicitors successfully appealed against a decision refusing to strike out a claim brought against them by a former client the cause of action which had accrued in January 2004. The motive for a party breaching a contract is not a relevant ingredient to the cause of action the ignorance o......

The solicitors were entitled to terminate the retainer following allegations of bullying by one solicitor at the practice despite having continued to represent the client at a case management conference following the allegations being made. The nature of the complaint was not such as to require the......

The solicitors' LLP was liable to pay damages for losses suffered by a client arising from a loan agreement entered into with a developer. The LLP had breached its duty when advising and drawing up the facility letter relating to the advance of the loan. ......

Causation. Whilst unloading a lorry belonging to his employers, the Claimant was struck on the head by a barrel of cider. Although somewhat shaken he returned to his work shortly after the incident and continued as normal. Six weeks later, he suffered a severe epileptic seizure which then recurre......

Immunity of Experts. The GMC has discretion to consider the conduct of an expert witness. There is no absolute common law privilege that protects a witness in giving evidence. On the facts, by a majority, the conduct of the expert was not sufficiently grave to justify his being struck off. ......

Further particulars of claim in a misrepresentation claim by a property developer against chartered surveyors did not cure the defect in the original particulars that no coherent case had been made out and the particulars had to be struck out. ......

A claim against solicitors for negligence and breach of contract for failing to draw to the mortgagee's attention various matters succeeded on liability. It was not proven that the mortgagee would have refused to lend even if properly advised and accordingly it had suffered no loss and was enti......

Clients of an accountancy firm were entitled to recover from the partners of the firm as the negligent representations were made by a partner in his capacity as a partner of the other Defendants and in the course of the ordinary business of the firm. It did not matter that those representations wer......

Advice on Settlement. After an action relating to unpaid school fees and an alleged breach of contract in respect of the education provided was compromised, the two children brought separate proceedings against the school. The school sued its former counsel and solicitors for failing to protect ......

Where the treating doctor should have referred the Claimant to a specialist the Bolitho test is inapplicable to the test of causation. ......

A firm of surveyors was not liable to a bank for a valuation of a property development as security for a loan after the bank lost money when the developer went into administration. The bank's loss had not been caused by the firm's overvaluation of the property's gross development value,......

Causes of action against a seller of a property and against solicitors for a breach of their duty of care for failure to discover the true property boundary accrued upon the purchaser entering in to the flawed contract for sale rather than at a later time. Accordingly its claims were time-barred. ......

Where Counsel were retained to advise on obtaining a Group Litigation Order that had been unsuccessful no duty of care was owed by either Counsel or solicitors to the ATE insurers because no advice had been sought before the issue of the ATE policy. In any event the advice of Counsel and the conduc......

Following an auction a memorandum of sale was entered into with the registered leasehold proprietor of the property. A third party then alleged that he owned the property. Following the issue of proceedings the parties agreed that the claim against the registered leasehold proprietor and the cla......

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal had been entitled to make an order under s. 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974 against an individual who falsely represented himself as a solicitor and sought legal fees despite that fact that he had not been dishonest. ......

A claim against an insolvency practitioner for allegedly failing to advise as to the possible criminal consequences of operating the same business under a new name under s. 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 was not wholly subject to the ex turpi causa doctrine. The rule in Gray v Thames Trains that da......

Solicitors instructed in connection with the sale of land were not liable for the loss incurred following the alleged fraudulent transfer of the land where the vendor knew and approved of the transfer. In anticipation of a sale of land the vendor and claimant in these proceedings pre-signed a trans......

Solicitors served a statutory demand for outstanding fees. The client applied to set it aside on the basis of substantial cross-claim for professional negligence. The claim for professional negligence was in two parts. First it was said that the solicitor failed to register a caution on a prop......