Professional Negligence

Mr R of Belgium wished to pursue a claim for professional negligence, misrepresentation and breach of contract against a large firm of international accountants. By negotiation the claim was settled in the sum of $79,000.

Mr C of Leicestershire is a property developer who alleged that solicitors had acted incompetently at the time they acted for him during the purchase of land upon which our client wished to build. The result of the negligence in failing to advise our client on the existence and meaning of restrictive covenants in the sale documents was that our client was prevented from developing the properties in the most profitable manner. The claim was settled for a sum in excess of £50,000, calculated by reference to our client's loss of profit, and in addition our client's legal costs were paid.

Mrs C of Ipswich was badly let down by her previous solicitors in their handling of her personal injury claim. They advised her to reject offers and failed to insure her against liability for costs. Not only did she lose the case, but she ended up liable for her opponents’ costs and was facing the loss of her home. We pursued a professional negligence claim against the former solicitors and recovered damages for her lost claim and her costs liability.

Mr B of Lincolnshire lost the chance of pursuing an employment tribunal claim against his former employer when his solicitors missed the deadline for lodging the papers. In the meantime the solicitors’ practice was closed down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for various irregularities. We managed to restore his faith in the legal profession by recovering damages for the lost claim.

We recently recovered damages for Mr and Mrs H of the West Midlands for loss of profits on the sale of bulldog puppies in a professional negligence claim against a veterinary network. During a caesarean delivery the vet negligently left one of the puppies inside the mother’s womb, with the result that she developed a serious infection, miscarried and had to have a hysterectomy. This meant that the owners could no longer breed from their dog. This case raised novel points of law, but we felt confident that most judges would find for the clients. Shortly before the trial date the defendants came up with an offer that properly reflected the clients' losses and they were happy to accept.

We recovered substantial damages for Miss X as a result of a serious breach of confidentiality by the treating hospital who negligently revealed her positive HIV status to members of her family. This led to our client being rejected by members of her family, even being made homeless for a while, and caused resulting psychological symptoms. To their credit the hospital accepted liability very quickly, but the final settlement figure achieved was some four times their initial offer.

We acted for Mr and Mrs M of Leicestershire in a professional negligence claim against their former solicitors who completed on their purchase without ensuring that the physical boundaries of the property matched the boundaries on the title plans. This resulted in our clients acquiring less land than they had anticipated, which in turn interfered with their development plans. Following representations by us liability was admitted, and expert evidence was obtained to assist in the quantification of the damages claim.

Damages were recovered for a client who was dispensed the wrong medication by a chemist, which caused him to suffer severe gastric problems. Liability was quickly resolved and a suitable settlement arrived at by negotiation.