The Duty to Warn....! 05 May 2015 Saleem-Khalid (0) There are relatively few cases on the subject of what warnings professionals need to give to their clients when advising/acting for them. In a case that came before Akenhead J in the TCC this March, the following guidance was given. Clearly much will depend upon the expert evidence and any contracts in such cases, but it is still worth bearing in mind this summary on a common yet surpr... [More]
Failure to serve Witness Statements on time – better late than never? 04 February 2014 Saleem-Khalid access to justice, cpr, evidence, procedure, professional negligence (0) Mitchell is still providing a rich source of material for articles, and concern for those worried about being the subject of the next big professional negligence action… Following on from Andrew’s post last week, I recently encountered the scenario where one party sought to vary a Court timetable of directions but it was not agreed. Clearly, if the directions themselves... [More]
Conflicting medical evidence: solicitors' duties in CICA claims 03 April 2013 Alastair-Hammerton Causation, damages, duty of care, evidence, Experts, personal injury, professional negligence (0) In Boyle v Thompsons Solicitors [2012] EWHC 36 (QB) Mr Justice Coulson considered the scope of a solicitor’s duty in resolving conflicts of expert medical evidence. The claimant (“Mrs B”) claimed damages from the defendant solicitors (“the Solicitors”) for their allegedly negligent conduct of her compensation claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (&ldq... [More]
Lawyers' liability for costs 02 April 2013 Alastair-Hammerton costs, procedure, professional negligence (0) A recent decision of Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart in the Technology And Construction Court (“TCC”) in Webb Resolutions Ltd v JV Ltd t/a Shepherd Chartered Surveyors [2013] EWHC 509 (TCC) considers lawyers’ obligations when drawing up court orders. The Claimants were assignees of a centralised mortgage lender suing the Defendant surveyors in respect of three allegedly negligen... [More]
Complaints against lawyers – The Legal Ombudsman Scheme 2013 01 April 2013 Saleem-Khalid (0) The First of April might appear a foolish day to write about the Legal Ombudsman Scheme. It is not new, but it is steadily gaining in popularity. Since 2007, the scheme has been administered by the Office for Legal Complaints. This free scheme is being expanded – up to £50,000 could now be awarded by way of ‘compensation’ – and therefore could... [More]
Testamentary Capacity and Solicitor Negligence 16 February 2013 Thomas-Crockett General, liability, solicitors (0) The conclusion of a recent Study undertaken by Robert Hunter, heads of trusts litigation at Herbert Smith and Dr Claire Royston, a consultant psychiatrist and medical director of Four Seasons Health Care, should serve as a stark warning for practitioners in this area. Its conclusion has been that it has found solicitors lacking when making this judgment as to the potential testator’s capacit... [More]
Shepherd Construction Ltd. v Pinsent Masons LLP (2012) – The Good Shepherd? 01 January 2013 Saleem-Khalid (0) Another year gone, another set of resolutions. I won’t dwell upon how long they will stand. One thing that remains steadfast in the capital is the amount of construction work. One of the largest builders is Shepherd and their workers are getting back to work on several large sites in London. Shepherd have also been busy, however, in the field of litigation, i... [More]
Solicitor’s Negligence Cases in the Court of Appeal in 2012 18 December 2012 Thomas-Crockett General, Research, court of appeal, solicitors (0) As we look towards 2013 and back to all-but the last weeks of 2012, my attention is drawn to three interesting cases heard in the Court of Appeal regarding different allegations of professional negligence against solicitors: · in Langsam v Beachcroft LLP, it was held that a solicitors&rsqu... [More]
Mortgage valuations and reliance 05 December 2012 Alastair-Hammerton Causation, contributory negligence, damages, duty of care, foreseeability, liability (0) More on Phimister v DM Hall LLP [2012] CSOH 169 (see earlier posting), which concerned a valuation of a residential property in Scotland. The Claimant’s criticism is that the Defendant ought to have checked the Property’s acreage and, had he done so, he would have realised that it was 0.46 acres smaller. Lord Glennie dismissed the claim on the primary basis that the Defendant did not ... [More]
Mortgage valuer's duty to report plot size 05 December 2012 Alastair-Hammerton case report, duty of care (0) To what extent is a surveyor, who provides a mortgage valuation, obliged to check on the property’s precise acreage? This question was recently considered by Lord Glennie in Phimister v DM Hall LLP [2012] CSOH 169. The Claimant was a fisherman who, when not at sea, was a property developer. In 2007 he found a possible property (“Property”) comprising “traditional dwelling... [More]