What is Professional Negligence?

Professional negligence is a tort in English law, which occurs when the work carried out by a professional, falls below a reasonable standard. In other words, if your solicitor made a mistake, it is likely thta they were negligent. 

When you instruct a professional, you are entitled to expect that they will carry out their work to a reasonable standard. If their work falls below that standard, it is likely that professional negligence has occurred. 

Some examples of professional negligence cases we have dealt with recently are:

• a solicitor who failed to draft a will properly;
• an accountant who did not advise about tax relief which was available;
• a firm of solicitors who did not advise about covenants over a property;
• a surveyor who valued a property too highly;
• solicitors who failed to advise a client to settle at the right time;
• a solicitor who gave bad advice about property searches;
• a surveyor who failed to identify serious structural problems with a property;
• conveyancing solicitors who made errors over the boundaries of a property; and
• solicitors who did not tell a wife to get independent legal advice when she was signing away her home.

Solicitors also have a duty to tell a client if they have a weak case - solicitors cannot sugar coat advice.

The consequences of a solicitor's mistakes can be devastating for clients. In all of the above cases, the professional negligence led to a financial loss being suffered by the client. Where a loss has been suffered, we can help you bring a claim for damages.

Samuels Solicitors is the only niche professional negligence firm in North Devon. We have over 25 years' experience of dealing with this type of claim, not only for clients in Devon, but throughout the UK.

Our senior parner, Jan Samuel, is a professional negligence litigation expert, who has helped hundreds of clients to recover their losses.

We appreciate that if you have already suffered a financial loss, it could be difficult for you to find the funds to instruct a lawyer. This is why we have developed a range of flexible funding options to help you get access to justice. This can include conditional (no win no fee) arrangements in appropriate cases. 

The number of professional negligence claims has reduced in recent years, but this is likely to be because of the improvements in pre action settlement, which means that by using methods such as mediation, many cases will be settled out of court. Samuels are experts in helping clients settle professional negligence claims through mediation. 

If you have suffered losses as a result of professional negligence, or if you would like to talk to us about how to bring a claim for professional negligence, contact us today for a free, no obligation discussion about how we can help.