It’s important to realise from the outset that proving a Solicitors Negligence claim can be extremely difficult.

In order to succeed with a Solicitors Negligence claim it is usually necessary to show that the solicitor has behaved in a way that no reasonable professional would have done. (Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 1 WLR 582)

But this is where we may be able to help. We have been successfully representing clients in Solicitors Negligence claims for many years.

Your solicitor has a legal duty to exercise a reasonable standard of professional care when representing you.

Your solicitor usually also has a contract with you, and it will be an express or implied term of the contract that they should conduct matters with reasonable care.

If your lawyers fail to meet the necessary standard of care you may be able to a Solicitors Negligence claim to recover damages for any losses that you have suffered as a result of their mistake.

We will be able to tell you during the first call whether or not your solicitors negligence claims is worth pursuing.

If you decide to go ahead we will aim to meet you face-to-face as soon as we have seen all your papers – Professional negligence cases are often complex, with large numbers of documents to consider, so there is no substitute for a face-to-face meeting to get the case started properly.

The Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence Claims (“the protocol”) sets out detailed rules which both sides have to follow before considering any court proceedings.

The protocol encourages a “cards on the table” approach, and insists that the parties regard court proceedings as a last resort.

We will prepare a very detailed Letter of Claim to the negligent solicitor, providing them with a full account of what happened, why you think they are at fault and an outline valuation of the case. We will attach copies of all the material documents in support of your case to the Letter of Claim.

The protocol encourages both sides in a Solicitors Negligence claim to settle the case without court proceedings if possible, and we are able to settle quite a high proportion of of our clients’ claims without the need for court proceedings.

If the solicitors refuse to admit their negligence, or refuse to negotiate sensibly, we will arrange to meet with a barrister who specialises in Solicitors Negligence claims, and we will advise you about the issue of court proceedings.

We are very experienced in the conduct of court proceedings in Solicitors Negligence cases.

And even when it is necessary to sue a solicitor the vast majority of our Solicitors Negligence cases are settled on favourable terms long before we ever get to a trial.

When cases do go ahead as a trial the experience of giving evidence is rarely as difficult as people imagine.

We have previously published some very straightforward pointers about giving evidence at court.

Make a note of your version of events, and the details of anyone who you think may be able to provide helpful information to support your case. It will help you get things clear in your mind, and make it easier for you to explain your case to us.

Try to put the letters, evidence and other papers in date order, which will make it easier for you and us to work through them.

Contact us for some free initial advice as soon as possible.

We will be able to tell you very quickly whether or not you have reasonable prospects for pursuing a Solicitors Negligence claim.

It is important to investigate a proposed solicitors negligence case as soon as possible, while you still remember the details clearly, and before any important documents are lost or destroyed.

The value of each Solicitors Negligence case depends upon the extent of any losses suffered by the client, and the strength of the evidence which is available in support of the claim.

Settlements in recent Solicitors Negligence cases at Mulderrigs have ranged between £15,000 to £500,000.

We tend not to take on cases where the value of the claim is less than £15,000.

Valuing the “Lost Chance”
It may seem odd, but a Solicitors Negligence claim for a messed up court action (eg. A Personal Injury claim or a Divorce) doesn’t involve a straightforward re-run of the original case.

The original case has gone for ever, and the true purpose of the Solicitors Negligence claim is to value of the “lost chance” of having had your case dealt with properly in the first place.

The court has to consider all the risks involved in the original claim (Did you have a good case? – Would you have been found partly to blame? – Would you have settled for less than the full amount if an early offer had been made? etc).

The court also then has to consider the risks involved in proving a difficult Solicitors Negligence claim.

In one of our recent cases, our client had to consider the following risks:

His original case was difficult – his chances of success were around 75%.

Even if he had won the original claim he would probably have been found 25% responsible for the accident in any event.

His Solicitors Negligence case was difficult, because not all the evidence was helpful to our client – The chances of success were around 50%.

So, although the original injury claim may have been worth up to£500,000, the “lost chance” calculation (£500,000 x 75% x 25%, x 50%) reduced the value of the claim to something more like £140,000, even before any negotiations with the Defendants started.

Inconvenience and Distress
Discovering that your solicitor has been negligent can be a very stressful and distressing business, especially if you then have to take legal action to put matters right, and pursuing a Solicitors Negligence claim can add to that stress.

But the court is unlikely to award you anything for distress and inconvenience, except in the most extreme circumstances.

If your Solicitors Negligence claim is successful the court is also likely to award any additional legal fees which are required in order to put matters right, along with an amount for interest.