Negligence

An engineering firm appealed against a decision on a preliminary issue that the director had employed them in a personal capacity rather than as agent for his company. Where the identity of a contracting party was unclear from a written contract it was legitimate for the court to consider what the ......

An application for costs against solicitors of unsuccessful defendants following a finding that a funding agreement had been validity terminated, raising the issue of whether the solicitors were a party to the action, and if not, whether the court should exercise its discretion to make an order aga......

Negligence: Stress at Work & Circumstances putting Employer on notice as to risk of injury: It was critical for a judge in a claim for personal injury caused by stress at work to find the circumstances that put the employers on notice that if they did not take action it was reasonably foreseeable t......

The claim was brought by barristers against a former client who had set up two websites on which two articles were published making criticisms of their conduct of his case and alleging that they were corrupt. The barristers were entitled to summary judgment in a libel claim where false allegations ......

The Court of Appeal considered the proper measure of damages for property owners who have suffered damages as a result of negligent design and construction of piling supporting their homes. Some piles settled causing significant cracking which while not structural was sufficiently serious to ren......

Crown Appeal Against Sentence:- On 11 April 2008 the respondents pled guilty at a continued preliminary hearing at the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh of a contravention of section 3(1) and section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 which related to a road traffic accide......

The shareholders and former directors of a hotel company wished to pursue an action in conspiracy on behalf of the company against its financiers and accountants. Successful at first instance their complaints against their solicitors in respect of the handling of their appeal and in particular for ......

The Claimant obtained permission to appeal. The Court of Appeal referred at the behest of the defendant solicitors that the trial judge determine a further question the result of which was that the appeal stood no prospect of success. The Claimant then sought to amend its grounds of appeal on the b......

Solicitors representing the purchaser of a yacht under the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association memorandum of agreement had not been negligent in failing to obtain a personal guarantee of the yacht's condition from the seller's beneficial owner. ......

Construction company and director fined over fatal accident: At Dundee Sheriff Court on 8 June 2009, Richard Pratt, a Director of Discovery Homes (Scotland) Ltd, pled guilty to a breach of sections 2(1) & 37 the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The conviction is only the sec......

Demolition company fined over fatal accident At Glasgow Sheriff Court on 16 February 2010, E. Nicholson & Sons (Metals) Limited pled guilty to a breach of section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. ......

At Haddington Sheriff Court on 26 April 2010, the firm of Hamilton Farmers (East Lothian), pled guilty to a breach of section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. ......

A Sheriff has imposed a community service order on a man whose careless driving caused the death of a pensioner at a bus stop in Glenrothes. Sean Medeiros lost control of his council van when his hand became trapped in the steering wheel after he instinctively tried to grab a set of keys that had ......

It was inappropriate to pursue different firms of solicitors under a Group Litigation Order when the issues arising against each firm were patently different. ......

The court granted an application to strike out the professional negligence claim as the claimant had failed to comply with various directions, particularly in light of the of the overriding objective pursuant to CPR rule 1.1(2)(f), which highlights the importance of enforcing compliance with the ru......

Where a solicitors' firm had breached its retainer in two minor respects, it was entitled to recover its fees for services undertaken in connection with her matrimonial affairs because those breaches had not caused the client to suffer any loss. ......

Michael Harvey QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) allowed the claimant solicitors' firm's claim for a sum of money in respect of outstanding fees for legal services provided to its former client, the defendant. The defendant had brought a counterclaim for damages for alleged professional neg......

The doctor was not liable for failing to diagnose a subarachnoid haemorrhage because the key symptoms were not present. Although the doctor had failed to ask the patient the relevant questions there was insufficient evidence to show that had he asked that the answers would have been such as to requ......

Causation: In proceedings arising out of a mistakenly high strength of a prescription drug, the dispensing pharmacist should have been put on notice of the significant increase in the dosage from the pharmacy's own records and should have checked with the prescribing doctor. However that breach of ......

A successful Iranian businessman sought damages from his former accountants following a failure to advise him about his non-domicile status and the possibility of tax efficient means of dealing with the sale of a business by way of a bearer warrant scheme thereby avoiding the substantial capital ga......

A surveyor employed by the Bank instructed to carry out a visual inspection only was not negligent in failing to recommend a structural engineer's report in circumstances where had had no suspicion that there were hidden defects. It was unrealistic to suggest a valuer recommend a full structura......

Debate:- In this action, the pursuers sought damages in respect of alleged professional negligence by the defenders, a firm of solicitors, whom, it is claimed, negligently omitted to incorporate certain terms into a sale and purchase agreement and a related contract of service. The contract givin......