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Brighton 01273 685 888
Claims Against Solicitors Negligence
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Professional Negligence Solicitors Based in London & Brighton

Claims Against Solicitors Negligence

SPECIALIST PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE SOLICITORS THAT WIN OVER 95% OF THEIR CLIENTS' CLAIMS

Solicitors are not immune from making mistakes and sometime these can be costly. In most cases you will be happy with the service you receive but in some instances mistakes can be made that leave you out of pocket and wanting answers. Contact our professional negligence claims against solicitors team today.

We have been working with people like you for over 30 years and we understand that sometimes an apology is not enough. At Healys we are here to help you recover any losses (financial or otherwise) you have suffered and get the answers you deserve.

I would like to thank my solicitor Jerome O’Sullivan, acting on behalf of Healys LLP, and my counsel David Halpern QC for their astuteness, efforts and hard work in helping Dreamvar to win this case.”.
E Vardar

Our team has a wealth of experience in professional negligence claims against solicitors and we have developed relations with leading chambers in the industry. We are recognised in the Claims Against Solicitors field by a leading industry directory, the Legal 500. We are also members of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association.

Professional Negligence Claims Against Solicitors, What can I claim for?

Most claims against solicitors can be complex and that’s why it’s important to have a team that is industry recognised and that you can trust.  There are number issues you can claim for but these are the most common.

  • When your solicitor has missed the limitation date
  • When your solicitor has caused your claim to be struck out by the court
  • When your solicitor has sued the wrong party
  • When your solicitor has under settled a personal injury claim
  • When your solicitor has failed to identify a defect in the title of your property
  • When your solicitor has made an error when drafting a lease
  • When your solicitor has failed to administer a deceased’s estate correctly
  • When your solicitor has failed to serve a notice on your behalf by given deadline
  • When your solicitor has failed to advise you about planning permission and building regulations
  • When your solicitor has failed to draft a will properly

Professional Negligence Claims Against Solicitors, What you need for a successful claim?

In order to win a negligence claim against a solicitor, the claimant will need to prove a number of things.

Duty of Care

Foremost among these is the notion of “duty of care”, meaning that it is necessary to prove that, under the terms of the solicitor-client relationship, the defendant solicitor owed a duty to the claimant. That is wide enough to cover the mistake made.

Breach of Duty

The next step in building a persuasive negligence claim against a solicitor is in proving that the solicitor in question breached the duty of care.

This involves comparing and testing the actions of the solicitor against a number of important criteria – underpinning this assessment will be the overarching question of whether the defendant’s service and conduct met the standards of a reasonably competent solicitor.

After being left out of pocket by a negligent local solicitor, I instructed Robert Johnson to act on my behalf to try and retrieve the monies that were owed to me. Robert and his team not only kept me informed and up to date throughout the whole time but was successful in retrieving nearly the whole amount in an out of court settlement. I cannot thank Robert Johnson enough and would recommend Robert and Healys Solicitors.
Richard Watts


Other questions to be considered will include whether the solicitor followed the client’s instructions and took reasonable care in carrying out those instructions. Before reaching any ruling a court will also need to look at whether the solicitor demonstrated basic competence and skill, offered advice on all appropriate matters, and whether he or she sought to protect the client’s interests.

Loss

Even in cases where breach of duty and causation are proven, it is still incumbent on the claimant to show that the losses are not too remote from the cause of them.  In short, they must be reasonably foreseeable.

Once this loss has been proven, liability can be established and only the question of an appropriate sum of compensation will remain.

Causation

The loss suffered must have been cause by the breach of duty.  This is often the most difficult aspect to prove as not everything a breach is caused by that breach.

Hence, depending on the circumstance in relation to the purchase of property that (properly advised) would not have been purchased, you may/may not recover the loss in value caused by the fall in the general property market.

Call Us Today
Call our London office on 020 7822 4000 or our Brighton office on 01273 685 888. You can also contact us online.
Call Us Today
London: 020 7822 4000 Brighton: 01273 685 888 Or you can contact us online: Contact Us
Key Contacts
Robert Johnson
Partner
David Bailey
Partner (LLP Member)
Meet the team
Case Studies
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Claims Against Solicitors Negligence capabilities
Claims Against Solicitors Negligence experiences
  • Our client, a property developer was in the process of obtaining a property. The case involved two law firms that acted for the buyer & seller. After the transaction was complete, the client discovered that the seller had committed identity fraud and lost a considerable amount of money. Issues included breach of warranty of authority and breach of trust on the part of the solicitors who acted on behalf of the fraudster; the scope of the duty of care of the firm acting on behalf of our clients and whether the clients’ consequential loss of profit was recoverable at law. Our client decided to contact Jerome O’Sullivan and Healys’ Professional Negligence team in order to make a claim. Solicitors’ legal obligations in such circumstances are unclear and this matter may lead to clarification of the law in this regard. The team, led by Jerome O’Sullivan was able to successfully make a claim against the two firms for £1.5million.
  • Our client divorced with his wife and asked his former solicitors to take on his case. After completing procedures, he realised that the law firm had not protected his interests & assets. His wife dissipated all the assets leaving him very surprised and unsatisfied by the service that they had provided. Our client decided to contact Robert Johnson and Healys’ Professional Negligence team in order to make a claim. Robert Johnson and the Healys Family team acted extremely promptly to guarantee our client a success in his claim. They were able to successfully make a claim in the sum of £50,000 for failure in acting for our client’s best interests.
  • Our client’s claim arose out of the failings of her former solicitors to deal with her divorce. This included the dissipation of assets held by the husband in Hong Kong by way of freezing orders. The claim focused on conflicting evidence between the client and husbands solicitor. After lengthy negotiations with the other side, Robert Johnson was able to secure the client £650,000 in compensation.
  • Our client had a previous claim with another law firm in relation to his property being undervalued when sold. Unfortunately our client received poor advice from the previous law firm which resulted in him loosing the initial claim against the mortgagee and valuer. Robert Johnson was able to successfully make a claim against the previous law firm for loss in opportunity. After lengthy mediation with the other side, Robert was able to secure our client £800,000 in compensation.
  • Our client needed advice regarding an Under-Lease, and so they approached a firm about their issue. However, our client soon realised that the firm had given incorrect advice. He decided to contact Healys in order to make a claim against the law firm for failure to advise properly in relation to the purchase of an under-lease, the terms of that under lease, the status of the head lessee and rental payment terms. The team, led by Robert Johnson was able to successfully make a claim for £150,000 against the firm.
  • Our client decided to make a claim against their former solicitor in respect of the failure to advise properly with regard to rights of appointment of LPA Receivers leading to the adoption of the wrong strategy, appointment of receivers and subsequent losses. The team, led by Robert Johnson was able to successfully make a claim against the firm for £4 million in failing to advise on the risks of the strategy.
  • Our client instructed a firm of solicitors to deal with a claim in regard to his former employer. He was unfortunately unaware that the firm he instructed was in financial difficulty. Subsequently the firm went into liquidation. This lead to the solicitor dealing with the case to be negligent towards our client’s case. The team, led by Robert Johnson was able to successfully make a claim for £200,000 against the firm for failure in treating our clients claim with due care and diligence. Nick Evans, our employment law expert, also took part at the claim. We acted for the client under a CFA and since the case the firm in question has been dissolved.
  • The client’s wife was involved in an RTA which led to a claim on the client’s insurance. The insurer instructed a solicitor in the client’s name to commence proceedings to recover the insurer’s losses from the other party involved in the RTA. The solicitor negligently allowed a judgement in default to be entered on a counterclaim against our client. The client was unaware of the judgement until he applied for a mortgage some 15 months later. As a result our client suffered numerous heads of losses including increased mortgage costs and potential loss of earnings because of his job as a police officer. The case was led by Ben Parr-Ferris who made a claim against the solicitor for negligently allowing the judgement on his wife’s RTA insurance claim. The aim of Ben and his team was to safeguard the client’s career and make sure the judgement does not affect his progression. A number of negotiations were attempt with the insurer in order to revert the decision made by the solicitor as an insurer debt. However, both of them failed. Although the team were able to get assurances from our client’s employer that the judgement should not impact the client career in any way. The solicitor has since accepted liability and Ben Parr-Ferris was able to secure our client £30,000 in compensation.
  • While in the process of buying their new home, our clients contacted Property Survey Company in order to complete the required checks on their potential new property. The Property Survey Company completed all the checks and informed our clients that no defects were found. Unfortunately after purchasing the property our clients noticed a number of defects in the property and after getting a second opinion it was found that the original survey was incorrect. The team was able to successfully make claim against the property surveyor as they failed to provide our clients with the survey they asked for but also they failed to identify certain defects in the property. Robert and the team were able to secure £50,000 in compensation for our clients in an out of court settlement.
  • Our client had a significant property portfolio. She found out that a number of her properties had been sold without her knowledge under her ex-husbands name. The properties in question were equally owned by our client and her ex-husband, so no sale should have taken place without her knowledge. After instructing a number of expert witnesses that included a hand writing expert, it was found that the property was unlawfully sold. With this information, Robert Johnson and the Professional Negligence team at Healys was able to secure £750,000 in compensation after lengthy mediation with the other side.
Claims Against Solicitors Negligence insights
  • Broker Who Failed To Advise Of Disclosure Obligations Faces Liability

    13th December 2018

    When a dispute broke out over an insurance claim, the value of line-by-line analysis of the policy terms and the obligations to make disclosures were made starkly evident. The dispute arose after the owner of a property rented it out to another firm for waste recycling. Insurance cover was placed with two insurers by a broker on behalf of the tenant and the property owner to cover various risks, including to the plant and machinery. Continue reading »

  • When Is Professional Advice Not Professional Advice?

    11th October 2018

    People take professional advice all the time, and rely on it. A professional who gives advice will normally not only have the appropriate qualifications but will also be covered by the firm’s professional indemnity policy, so that if their advice turns out to be negligent, the client can be compensated. Continue reading »

  • Court of Appeal Dismiss Appeal On Harrison Budget Case

    26th September 2017

    A case highlighted back in June was the court of Appeal decision in Harrison v University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trusts [2017] EWCA Civ 792 which confirmed the principles established in the Merrix case regarding the inter-relationship between budgets and detailed assessment. In short… Continue reading »

Claims Against Solicitors Negligence awards
  • Chambers & Partners 2018 - Band 4 – Professional Negligence – London, Robert Johnson - “Robert Johnson of Healys is "very thorough and commercially minded," according to sources. He focuses on advising claimants, and assists them with disputes involving a full range of professionals.”
  • Legal 500 2017 - Insurance: Professional Negligence – ranked: Tier 6 (London) - “Healys LLP handles claimant work for clients in disputes against a range of professions, including solicitors, valuers, architects, IFAs, construction and financial services professionals. The team is acting for a private individual in a claim against its former solicitors regarding alleged failure to deal with an employment claim, and represented Dreamvar (UK) in a claim against two firms of solicitors concerning a fraudulent property transaction. Dispute resolution head Robert Johnson is ‘bright, commercial and manages to master the detail while at the same time being focused entirely on the commercial aims of the client’. Jerome O’Sullivan is ‘tenacious and a strong negotiator’. David Bailey joined from Shakespeare Martineau LLP in 2016.”
  • Chambers & Partners 2017 - Band 4 – Professional Negligence – London, Robert Johnson - “Robert Johnson of Healys earns plaudits for his “wealth of experience and strong commercial views.” He is recognised for his experience representing claimants, and his recent activity includes advising on disputes related to property purchases, insurance contract terminations and fund misappropriation claims.”
Claims Against Solicitors Negligence news
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London: 020 7822 4000 Brighton: 01273 685 888 Or you can contact us online: Contact Us
Professional negligence