Professional negligence news updates  misconduct claims UK

Professional misconduct & negligence news

Here is a summary of some recent caselaw and events in the UK professional negligence sector.

6th July 2007 - Law Society article focusing on the apparent failure of some solicitors to learn from their mistakes so far as negligence is concerned

Zurich Insurance have released research that suggests solicitors very often fail to learn from their errors and as a consequence "are being hit by the same negligence claims year after year".   In a scathing report the insurer, which has the biggest share of professional indemnity insurance in the UK, reported that errors in conveyancing for residential property accounted for up to 35% of the total of claims.

The same errors keep cropping up. Issues such as inadequate investigation of title, re-mortgaging problems and many other fundamental problems continually became major errors leading to a loss.  Professional negligence claims generally are said to be on the increase.

16th October 2006 - Bonham & Ors v Blake Lapthorn Linell and Anr (ChD) 

The Claimant who raised a professional negligence claim had a trust of which he was a beneficiary. He lost an action in respect of the recovery of certain shares. The Claimant and the Trustees sought to recover the costs incurred and for which they were liable from the original trustee and the legal representatives on the basis that the action brought in his name should never have been commenced or at the very least should have been withdrawn at a far earlier stage.

The Court concluded that the original trustee was entitled to believe that the original action had real prospects of success and had not acted outside of his fiduciary duties and that the conduct of the solicitors was wholly appropriate.