Nottingham Solicitors’ and Barristers’ Negligence Lawyers
Serving clients throughout England and Wales.
If you received incompetent advice or representation from a solicitor or barrister, it is understandable that your faith in the legal profession may have been shaken! You should know, however, that there are some solicitors who focus on helping people who have been harmed by their previous lawyer.
Here at Paul Davis and Co Solicitors, we represent clients who suffered loss due to the negligence of a previous lawyer. We are members of the Professional Negligence Lawyers’ Association, and have more than 35 years experience of practising law in England and Wales. We excel in the handling of solicitors’ and barristers’ negligence claims.
Basic Duties of Solicitors and Barristers
A solicitor has an obligation to exercise that level of reasonable care and skill to be expected from a normally competent and careful practitioner. For example, to be skilful and careful, to properly advise the client on relevant matters, to protect the client’s interest, to carry out his or her instructions by all proper means, to consult the client on all questions of doubt and to keep the client informed to the extent reasonably necessary.
Barristers are subject to the same rules as other professional people, and the test as to whether they have been negligent is whether they have reached the standards to be expected of ordinary skilled persons exercising and professing to have that special skill.
Handling a Wide Range of Solicitors’ and Barristers’ Negligence Claims
Solicitors and barristers are not liable for every error that they make, but only for errors that no reasonably well-informed and competent professional could have made. Because Paul Davis & Co is a specialised, niche law firm focusing on professional negligence issues, we have the ability to handle a wide variety of claims, including:
- Missing limitation dates;
- Breach of contract;
- Litigation misconduct and deficiencies;
- Breach of fiduciary duty;
- Fraud;
- Investment negligence;
- Undersettling claims;
- Solicitor following a barrister’s incorrect advice;
- Negligent drafting of wills;
- Giving wrong advice;
- Settling without client authority;
- Delay causing loss to the client;
- Negligent advocacy.
These are just a few examples of negligence that can occur during a criminal case or a civil action. We will be able to advise you whether the advice and representation you received fell below the level to be expected from a reasonably competent solicitor or barrister.
In appropriate cases we may be able to offer a no win no fee agreement, or a discounted conditional fee agreement (a no win, low fee agreement) and utilize existing legal expenses insurance or obtain a fresh after the event legal expenses insurance policy.
Contact the Nottingham Solicitors’ and Barristers’ Negligence Solicitors
Paul Davis & Co Solicitors provides realistic, honest, preliminary case assessments. Should you choose to retain our services, you will find them to be cost-effective, and we offer a variety of funding options. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your potential professional negligence claim.
Learn more about the representation we provide by contacting us online or ring 01157 270 140 to arrange your initial consultation.
We pursued a claim for Mrs C against solicitors who had incompetently dealt with the drafting of a trust deed at the time of her purchase of a property on behalf of a friend of hers. It had been agreed that she would fund her friend's purchase of the property and that in exchange the ownership of the property would revert to our client at the time of her friend's death. The solicitors failed to protect our client against the property having third-party charges for her friend's debts attached to it, and when our client inherited the property a third-party was claiming £50,000 from her, and as a result the property could not be registered in her name. We succeeded in having the third-party claim dismissed in full, the property registered in our client's name and the negligent solicitors agreed to pay our client damages and costs.
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 S of St Albans Hertfordshire instructed us to pursue a claim for professional negligence against solicitors who adapted for her at the time she purchased a property. The solicitors had failed to advise her properly in relation to the absence of Building Regulations Approval and statutory planning permission for alteration works that had taken place to the property before she bought it. The insurers initially refused the claim, and invited our client to issue court proceedings. We advised our client to continue with the claim, and the claim was eventually settled in her favour for the sum of £82,500 plus our client's legal costs.
Mrs B instructed us to pursue a claim against conveyancing lawyers who had failed to follow out her instructions at the time she had purchased a property many years ago. As a result the property had had a legal restriction imposed on the title, which might ultimately have meant that our client would have had difficulty selling the property. We succeeded in having the restriction removed, and with payment of damages and costs being awarded to our client.