Description
Solicitors were retained to act in connection with a development and sale of properties in Bolton. The Claimant entered into a development agreement with the landowners. The development might encroach on adjoining land owned by the local authority to which the Claimant believed it held possessory title. The Claimant instructed the solicitors not to concern themselves with the adjoining land. Subsequently the local authority took the point and ultimately the landowners were forced to purchase the land. By this stage the Claimant and the landowners had fallen out and proceedings were commenced. Once these were settled the Claimant sought to recover from its former solicitors on the basis that they should have included a grant of rights by the landowners in the event of its acquisition in the development agreement. Because the solicitors were not retained to advise on the commerciality of the transaction, their retainer was limited to preparation of a development agreement.
