Solicitor Negligence – Can You Sue A Solicitor?

A solicitor, like many professional people such as an accountant or surveyor, has a duty of care to their clients, this means they have to perform their role with reasonable care and to a reasonable standard. A solicitor is seen to be acting negligently when they fail to perform to these professional standards that are required of them. The result of this is that the client can suffer either damage or loss. If you find yourself in the position where your solicitor has acted negligently, it is important to understand the options open to you. In this article, solicitor negligence – can you sue a solicitor, we will take a look at the options open to you if you find yourself in this position.

Free Initial Telephone Discussion

For a free initial discussion on how we can help you deal with a professional negligence claim against a solicitor, get in touch with us today. We are experienced in dealing with all forms of professional negligence and we will review your situation and discuss the options open to you in a clear and approachable manner. Early expert legal assistance can help ensure you avoid the stress of dealing with these issues on your own. Simply call us on 0345 901 0445 or click here to make a free enquiry and a member of the team will get back to you.

So what actually amounts to negligence?

If your solicitor makes a mistake whilst representing you and for that mistake to amount to negligence, the solicitor must have done the following things:

• Made a mistake
• Breached their duty of care to you as a client
• As the client, you must be able to show that if it wasn’t for the solicitor’s mistake, you would not have suffered the loss.
• As the client, you must be able to show a financial loss as a result of the solicitor’s advice.

If your claim against your solicitor succeeds, the solicitor will have to pay damages that put you in the position you would have been in had the negligence not taken place.

It is important to remember that for any solicitor’s negligence claim to be successful, it must prove that there has been a loss and that the solicitor breached their duty of care to you when carrying out your instructions.

Examples of Solicitor Negligence

Giving Bad Advice

Giving bad advice can have serious consequences. For instance, it may lead to the client suffering a financial loss. Perhaps the solicitor has given advice that causes loss or advised settlement for too little money. The latter can result where solicitors fail to challenge compensation offers properly.

The consequences of bad advice can extend beyond financial loss. Bad advice can lead to clients being incarcerated in prison. In this instance, the client could sue for loss of quality of life on the grounds that the failure to represent them properly resulted in imprisonment.

Bad advice can be the result of a lack of preparation for a case. For instance, personal injury lawyers’ mistakes can be a result of a poor investigation of medical issues. For land lawyers, this could be bad advice on the title or ownership of a property or properties. Perhaps they have failed to advise about planning permissions or building regulations because they did not research properly.

Administrative Mistakes

Solicitors that deal with Wills and Probate may be sued for making mistakes or errors in drafting a Will, meaning the intended beneficiaries could miss out on the inheritance they’re entitled to. They can also be sued for missing the time limits for the commencement of legal proceedings. Missing a court deadline can have huge consequences as a client may lose their chance to pursue a claim as a result. Property lawyers could fail to register your interest correctly or a typing error in a notice could prove to be fatal to a case. If a litigator misses a court deadline, this can have costly implications

Can a solicitor be negligent in any area of law?

If the principles of what amounts to a negligent act by a solicitor apply (as outlined previously), a solicitor can be considered to be negligent in any area of law and as such, can be sued.

This can include, personal injury, family law, property law, banking law, Wills and Probate, etc.

Are there time limits for solicitor negligence claims?

You must be in time to make a claim, this is known as the ‘professional negligence limitation period’. There are different time limits for different types of claims, but usually, there is a time limit of six years to bring a claim from the date the negligence occurred. However, if the negligence does not come to light until a later date there are circumstances where this can be extended.

How much can you typically receive if you are successful in making a claim?

The value of your claim against a solicitor is like all professional negligence claims; it varies greatly depending on many factors including your personal circumstances, the value of your loss, and the negligence on the part of the solicitor.

How we can help

We have a proven track record of dealing with negligence claims against solicitors. We will guide you through the process and ensure all checks are carried out swiftly and efficiently and we firmly believe that with the right solicitors by your side, the entire process will seem more manageable and far less daunting.

How to Contact Our Commercial Litigation Solicitors

It is important for you to be well informed about the issues and possible implications of a professional negligence claim. However, expert legal support is crucial in terms of ensuring a positive outcome to your case..

To speak to our Commercial Litigation solicitors today, simply call us on 0345 901 0445, or click here to make a free enquiry. We are well known across the country and can assist wherever you are based. We also have offices based in Cheshire and London.

Authored by Ben Posted in Litigation, News Tagged as