Professional Negligence Claims Against Solicitors: Conveyancing Defects

At Healys LLP, our Professional Negligence team, led by RobertJohnson, frequently advises clients on claims against solicitors arising fromnegligent legal services. The below cases illustrate how (1) solicitor failurescan lead to significant financial and emotional consequences and (2) we canassist clients in seeking redress.

This article addresses solicitor failures in property transactions involving structural and legal defects.

Defects in Property

In this case, the clients instructed a conveyancer to act for them in the purchase of a rural property. The conveyancer failed to identify that the property was subject to an agricultural tie which meant that only people who were employed in/connected to the agricultural industry (which the clients were not) could occupy the property. It also meant that the property could not be extended or altered (as the clients had planned). As a result it was worth considerably less than the value paid by the clients.  The difference between price paid and actual market value (i.e. with the defect)represents the majority of the value of the claim.

In this case, a claim arose out of the clients’ conveyancers’ failure to advise them properly on the purchase of a part of a piece of land. The clients had intended to build a property on the land but the conveyancers failed to (1) advise that the contract was for the purchase of a leasehold interest in the land; (2)  have the correct legal documentation in place to transfer good title in the land; and (3) sufficiently deal with the landlord’s consent for the purchase. We pursued the firm for the clients’ resulting losses to include their costs and the deposit paid and successfully settled the matter.

In this case, the client had instructed a firm of solicitors in relation to the purchase of apiece of land for development. The solicitor, however, failed to advise in relation to a legal principle which adversely affected the client as his access was blocked. We, therefore, pursued the solicitors for the recovery of the clients’ losses.

If you would like legal advice on these (or any) areas of Professional Negligence or further information on any of the above, please contact Robert on 07899973306 or robert.johnson@healys.com

Healys Professional Negligence Services

Healys professional negligence team have acted for clients against a range of professionals including solicitors, barristers, architects, surveyors, financial advisors and accountants, and have an outstanding reputation for gaining the best possible outcome. They are accredited and recommended by leading legal review bodies, including Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

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