Negligence

A partner whose responsibilities included the notification of potential claims to insurers under the provisions of professional indemnity insurance was required to act with reasonable care and skill judged by an objective standard. The personal belief that a third party claim was spurious was insuf......

Where the foundation of a professional negligence action rested on a challenge of the findings of fact in an earlier case between the protagonist and a third party in which the defendant had participated as a witness and as solicitor for one of the parties then it should be struck out as an abuse ......

Appeal against a wasted costs order against solicitors instructed by a bankrupt claimant granted on the ground that they conducted litigation in the absence of consent by the trustee in bankruptcy. Held: A wasted costs order application may be made orally in the course of any hearing (CPD (CPR P......

Where solicitors were negotiating a compromise and one party made an offer to compromise at a greater figure than that which had previously been offered by the other party but through mistake had not yet been received by the present offeror, there was no duty to advise of the earlier offer. Consequ......

The solicitors did not owe an implied duty to advise commercially experienced and advised of the possibility of seeking guarantees from the parent companies of a start-up venture. ......

In this case the pursuers sued a firm of solicitors for breach of contract and negligence. The main question here was whether the claim had prescribed by virtue of section 6 of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. The defenders argued that any obligation upon them had prescribed sin......

In a Part 8 Claim for professional negligence against a GP a Part 36 Offer was made and accepted following exchange of pre-action correspondence. The question arose as to whether CPR 36.10 applied to costs incurred pre-issue. By contrast to CPR 36.3, CPR 36.10 applied to pre-issue costs as much as ......

There was no duty on auctioneers who held on reasonable grounds a certain and definite opinion as to the provenance of an item offered for sale to qualify a description in the catalogue as any alternative would be fanciful rather than real. ......

A solicitor who had acted for an impecunious claimant under a conditional fee agreement where there was no after the event insurance policy in place and who also agreed to fund disbursements necessary to allow the proceedings to continue was not without more liable to be the subject of a non-party ......

A bank loan was securitised along with a tranche of other loans and sold to the Claimant, who in turn issued floating rate notes to investors. The issue was whether the Claimant could bring a claim against the valuation company instructed by the bank in making the original loan for an alleged negli......

The pursuers sought recovery of £87,831.11, a sum due to them in professional fees and outlays for their legal services, provided to the defenders over the period 1986 to 1994. The defenders disputed the pursuers' entitlement to the sum claimed for, on three main grounds. First, the defenders ......

A firm of architects was in breach of contractual duties owed to a museum in failing to design or procure the design of steps, seats and terraces which were architectural features within its sphere of contractual responsibility. ......

After allegations of sexual impropriety made by patients against a general practitioner the General Medical Council determined that he had a case to answer. The general practitioner asserted that insufficient evidence had been adduced in respect of the allegations to find the facts proven. The ......

The claimant mother gave birth to a baby with Down's Syndrome and brought a claim against the defendant general practitioner (GP). The claimant mother had medical treatment in Turkey for kidney trouble and during that time she had a triple test which showed positive and revealed that her baby w......

The defenders supplied a conveyor to the pursuers, a bakery, that was installed to convey hot bread from the oven to another area. The conveyor material had been ignited by burning bread and the resulting fire had damaged the building. The principal contractual claims against Spooner are to be th......

In October 2007, Mr Varley, a registered osteopath, was convicted and sentenced in respect of an offence of incitement to supply a Class B drug. The facts supporting the conviction were that the Mr Varley had incited his osteopathy patients to join him in creating amphetamine for sale as slimming p......

Vicarious Liability: The long-standing assumption that dual vicarious liability could not exist was incorrect. More than one employer can be vicariously liable for the negligence of a single employee. Each situation will depend upon a close examination of the facts. In respect of contribution betwe......

Advice on Settlement. On the morning of the first day of a personal injury trial, having assessed the Claimant's likely performance in the witness box, Leading Counsel advised the Claimant to accept the monies that had already been offered. A moderately higher offer was obtained from the Defenda......

Professional Conduct: Where a vet with an otherwise unblemished record had backdated the entries of two vaccinations by 14 days or less to save the animals having to recommence a vaccination programme the punishment of removal from the register was disproportionate in the absence of personal gain ......

Solicitors defending a professional negligence claim by a mortgage lender in relation to buy-to-let mortgage transactions were not entitled to disclosure of the lender's credit process guide in circumstances where they had not shown that the guide supported their case or damaged the lender'......