Professional negligence

Unfortunately, professionals from every walk of life can sometimes make negligent mistakes. Samuels Solicitors have built a reputation for their work in this specialist area.

Jan Samuel is a member of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) panel who advises clients who have complained to the OSS about Solicitors' negligence.

At Samuels we closely follow the Professional Negligence Pre-Action Protocol which aims to achieve settlement without the need to issue Court proceedings, saving our clients the expense, delay, and stress of protracted litigation.

FAQ's

• I believe I have a claim against my Solicitor; are you prepared to sue another Solicitor?
  1. If, having investigated your claim, we are satisfied that you have a reasonable case against another Solicitor we will be prepared to take your case on.
• I bought my home last year and I have now been told that the access to our property is a private road and there is no right of way; what can I do?
  1. The first thing to do is to seek to rectify the problem. There are various ways in which your problem can be rectified, and this is something that we at Samuels can assist you with.
  2. One way is to investigate whether you have a right of way that has arisen in law by implication, perhaps as a result of several years' use of the right of way both by yourself and previous owners of your property.
  3. If it is not possible to show that a right of way has arisen by implication of law, we will explore with you the other options available. For example, it may be possible to negotiate a right of way to your property over the private road in question with the owner of the private road in return for a cash payment. It would then be possible to sue your former Solicitors for the cost of obtaining the right of way.
  4. If your problem cannot be rectified without recourse to legal proceedings then we would be prepared to take your claim against your former Solicitor on. Your monetary loss would be calculated with reference to the diminution in value of your property without the right of way (as compared with the value of your property with the right of way). If we are satisfied that your claim has reasonable prospects of success we will offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement ("No Win, No Fee" Agreement).
• My Accountant told me I would not have to pay Capital Gains Tax if I sold my second home, but it transpires that this is not the case; do I have a claim?
  1. On the face of it you would appear to have a claim against your former Accountant in respect of the negligent advice they gave you. We would need to review the Accountant's file to ascertain the advice which was given to you.
• When my ex-partner and I purchased our house three years ago I contributed £50,000 to the purchase price but my ex-partner contributed nothing. We have since separated and we have decided to sell the house. I have been advised that we hold the property in equal proportions. When we purchased the property I was not advised as to how I should protect the initial capital I was contributing, and now I am told that effectively half of it belongs to my ex-partner. Do I have a claim?
  1. When you purchased the property with your ex-partner your Solicitor should have advised you as to the different ways in which you can hold the property as joint owners.
  2. Essentially, your Solicitor should have advised you that you could protect your initial capital contribution of £50,000 by drawing up a Declaration of Trust. This would provide for the property to be held in different proportions (in accordance with your instructions).
  3. You certainly appear to have a claim. We would however need to retrieve your file from your previous Solicitor to ascertain whether you were advised in relation to the ownership of your home.
• I believe a previous Solicitor who acted for me five years ago in connection with the purchase of my house was negligence; is there a time limit for bringing claims?
  1. The Law states that Court proceedings in a professional negligence claim must be brought within a six-year time limit. This is known as the "Limitation Period". Once the limitation period has expired, your claim becomes 'statute-barred'. Essentially this means that you are prevented by law from bringing a claim outside the six-year time limit.
• From what date does the six-year period start to run?
  1. The limitation period runs from the date of the alleged negligent act, or the date on which you suffered loss. It is not always straight forward determining what this date is.
• What if the six-year period has expired and I have only recently discovered that my Solicitor/Accountant/other professional may have been negligent?
  1. The law stipulates that, in certain circumstances (i.e. where s period of time elapses before you become aware of facts that may give rise to a claim), you may be entitled to issue Court proceedings up to three years after expiry of the limitation period.