Common claims against solicitors
Negligence by a legal adviser tends to surface at the worst possible moment — when a case is struck out, a sale falls through, or a will is challenged.
- Missed limitation dates or court deadlines that killed a valid claim
- Conveyancing errors: unreported covenants, rights of way, planning issues or defective title
- Settling litigation at an undervalue, or failing to advise properly on an offer
- Negligently drafted wills, trusts or contracts that failed to achieve what you intended
- Failure to advise on the tax or commercial consequences of a transaction
- Conflicts of interest that were not disclosed
- Losses arising from delay, inaction or failure to progress a matter
Loss of a chance — how these claims are valued
Where a solicitor's error deprived you of the opportunity to pursue a case, the court does not retry the original dispute. Instead it assesses what that lost opportunity was worth: the likely value of the underlying claim, multiplied by the realistic percentage prospect that you would have succeeded.
This means the evidence in your original matter still matters enormously. We reconstruct it from the solicitor's file, which you are entitled to obtain, and from your own records.
What happens first
We review your file and the retainer to establish the scope of what the solicitor agreed to do — scope is frequently the battleground in these claims. We then set out the breach, causation and loss in a Letter of Claim under the Professional Negligence Pre-Action Protocol.
Because solicitors must carry insurance meeting minimum terms, a well-evidenced claim is generally met by an insurer with the means to pay.
Signs of solicitor negligence
- Your claim was struck out, discontinued or time-barred
- A property problem emerged that searches should have revealed
- You were pressured into accepting a settlement without a clear written explanation of the alternatives
- A will or trust did not do what you were told it would do
- Your matter sat untouched for months and the position deteriorated