Professional negligence. Examining the questions

31st January 2015 by

Professionals can and sometimes do make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes are relatively innocuous and lead to only minor or negligible inconvenience. However, in other instances, the ramifications might be serious and significant financial loss could be sustained.

If you have sustained financial loss as a result of professional negligence, Brighton and London lawyers Healys LLP can help you recover full sums for your losses.

Gabriel v Little

In November 2012 the Court of Appeal reached a decision in an important negligence claim against solicitors, Gabriel v Little.

The claim examined a number of questions, including issues of scope of duty and foreseeability as derived from South Australia Asset Management Corpn v York Montague Ltd and Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd [1996] (SAAMCo).

Although the claim had its origins in a £200,000 loan given to Mr Little by Mr Gabriel – the two had apparently entered this arrangement on the understanding that Mr Little would invest the sum in a property and then pay the amount back, in addition to £70,000 interest. The loan was secured against the apparent value of the property.

However, events did not transpire as Mr Gabriel had envisaged. Firstly, the property was found to have a value of only £13,000, while instead of being used to invest in the property, the £200,000 was in fact used by Mr Little to pay back a bank loan.

Mr Gabriel sought to claim fraud against Mr Little and he also made a negligence claim against his solicitors, alleging that they should have known how the money would be invested.

Sadly, for Mr Gabriel, it was found that the contract outlining the terms of the loan did not give explicit reference to how the £200,000 should be invested, only that it should be used to “assist with the costs of development of the property” – something that was open to a very broad interpretation.

Professional negligence claims lawyers in Brighton and London

If you have sustained loss as a result of professional negligence, Brighton and London lawyers Healys LLP can help you recover all relevant sums.

Our specialists handle claims against lawyers, architects, accountants, surveyors, valuers, and other professionals.

For more information about claiming for professional negligence through our Brighton and London offices, contact us today.