The Court of Session in Edinburgh has awarded a property development company £2.7 million in compensation for the financial advice professional negligence and “breach of contract” of its commercial property lawyers.

According to a judge sitting at the court, the legal firm was “negligent” in failing to ensure that the developer adhered to two revolving credit facility agreements and, as a consequence, sustained substantial losses.

Furthermore, it was argued that had the legal firm advised the developer to ensure a standard security over one of its Glasgow development sites, losses would have been mitigated and no breach would have occurred.

According to Lord Tyre, hearing the case, it was “self-evident” that some form of negligence had occurred.

“Putting the matter bluntly, the breach called in March 2008 ought not to have occurred,” the judge said.

In giving his written opinion, Lord Tyre said that a failure to ensure a security for the site or, alternatively, to ring-fence it from the loan-to-value calculation, constituted the major thrust of the financial advice professional negligence claim.

“In my opinion the bank could not rationally have refused to accept one or other of those alternatives, given that the former at least had no discernible downside for the bank and that the consequence of accepting neither would have been to put the pursuer actually or potentially in default by triggering a breach of the covenant. That would not have been a commercially sensible course of action,” he said.

For information regarding your rights in relation to financial advice professional negligence, click here for more from the professional negligence solicitors at Healys LLP of Brighton and London.

Insurance giant Allianz has announced that it is teaming up with a national law firm to develop a professional negligence insurance product which, it says, will empower the consumers of legal services, including both private and commercial clients, to make claims against legal firms for incidences of alleged professional negligence.

The product, which the insurer describes as a “bespoke After the Event (ATE) insurance solution” is intended to give the clients of legal service providers the financial freedom to litigate where necessary by providing the means to pay the costs and disbursements of defendants in the event claims are unsuccessful.

“Customers with lower value claims are struggling to find appropriately priced and suitable ATE insurance cover that meets their needs,” commented Steve Rowley, business development manager at Allianz Legal Protection.

“This often means these cases never progress, even though the customer has suffered some form of negligence.”

Meanwhile, in higher-end professional negligence case news lawyers at London’s High Court have secured a £11.7m professional negligence settlement for a German food flavourings manufacturer for allegedly negligent tax and financial advice it received in relation to the takeover of another company.

For information regarding your legal rights following financial loss caused by financial or tax advisor professional negligence, click here.

Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has been served notice of an accountancy professional negligence claim in relation to advice and audit services it gave to Manchester Building Society (MBS) over the “the implementation and application of hedge accounting”. If the case is not settled at an early stage, MBS’s lawyers have given every indication that they are prepared to take the case through the courts.

The advice given by Grant Thornton has already attracted the interest of regulators, who have said that they will be investigating the firm in relation to possible breaches of various rules, while the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has said that it will look into a number of separate matters related to MBS, Grant Thornton and interest rate swaps – an investigation which will again cast the spotlight on the integrity of the accountancy firm.

The accountancy professional negligence claim argues for £49 million in compensation because of breach of contract, negligence and breach of statutory duty relating to audit services and advice provided from 2006 up to and including 2013 when Grant Thornton resigned as MBS’s external auditors.’

Earlier this year the FRC expressed its disappointment that five out of eight Grant Thornton audits it looked into were found to fall short of the expected standard.

Although Grant Thornton acknowledged it was currently facing an accountancy professional negligence claim it said “obligations of confidentiality mean that we cannot comment on the detail of any litigation in which the firm is involved”.

It is not only large organisations that can make claims for loss caused by the negligence of an account. For information about the many services provided by the specialist accountancy and financial services professional negligence lawyers at Healys LLP of Brighton and London click here.

It may not give rise to a raft of professional negligence claims from Brighton to London commuters, but it’s a fair bet that many of those affected might fantasise about the benefits of litigation during the idle hours they have to endure during their delayed rail commutes between the two cities.

Yes, it’s none other than the protracted fallout from the mismanaged £500 redevelopment of London Bridge railway station – one of the most important commuter hubs for residents of Brighton.

Recent months have seen the many lawyers, bankers, creatives and other professionals who make the daily Brighton to London commute frustrated by delayed and cancelled services, overcrowding and generalised confusion; and with the new platforms, concourse and passenger facilities not set for completion until 2018 there are fears that the saga could run on and on.

Despite the fact that the minimal level of financial loss caused directly by the problems is likely to make professional negligence claims from the Brighton commuters unviable, there is still plenty of talk of compensation, with Labour MPs calling on Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin to launch a “significant” fund for those affected.

There are certainly plenty of accusations of negligence: the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has said that badly installed track and signalling layout, corner-cutting and other failures will result will result in “continuing chaos”.

“The catalogue of faults identified by our reps is breathtaking and, alongside the abject failure to listen to our members who understand how a railway works, shows that the continuing chaos and overcrowding was entirely predictable,’ an RMT spokesperson told The Argus.

Unfortunately, there is likely to be little cost-benefit in claiming for delays and inconvenience caused to you has a commuter; however, if you would like to make a professional negligence claim in Brighton for financial loss caused you by a professional such as a construction contractor, architect, lawyer or accountant, find out more with Healys LLP today.