Making negligence claims against solicitors

When instructing a solicitor we understand that you require a highly skilled professional to help you with any case you may have.  We are aware that there are solicitors that fail in their duty to provide you with the best legal advice available. At Accidents Direct our solicitors have many years of experience with cases where clients have suffered a loss due to the negligence of a solicitor.

Our team of legally trained advisors have extensive knowledge in dealing with solicitors who have behaved in a negligent manner, causing you to suffer a financial, emotional or loss of ability to enjoy life. As a result our team are dedicated to pursuing those negligent and providing accesses to justice for our clients

How Do I Know If I Have a Claim?

If you are unfortunate enough to receive bad legal advice or experience poor service from an inadequate solicitor, you may have the right to seek compensation. We can advise you to the best way of seeking redress.
If it is found that you have been provided with poor or unsatisfactory professional service, the Legal Complaints Service has the power to order the solicitor to pay you compensation of up to £15,000. In addition, it can order a solicitor to reduce the fees being charged. It is advised that obtaining compensation via pursuing a poor service complaint, rather than a professional negligence claim, is often the best way of obtaining some compensation in cases in which the losses suffered where relatively small (less than £5,000), or when there are obvious violations of professional conduct rules.
When deciding the best way to obtain compensation from a bad solicitor, it is vital to understand the difference between ‘negligence’ and ‘misconduct’. The Legal Complaints Service will only examine complaints about poor service, not allegations of negligence.
September 1999 introduced a mandatory requirement for solicitors to advise clients on legal expenses in writing. Failure to do this is a breach of professional conduct regulations and the Complaints Service is likely to impose a penalty.
Accidents Direct understands that in the past, solicitors have provided cost estimates that exceeded by more than a permissible margin of error (usually around 15%), thus there is a good chance that because of this inadequate advice the bill will be reduced back to the level of the initial prediction, without the need to prove negligence. Sometimes, such mistakes can have terrible results for the client which can only be put right by pursuing a solicitor’s negligence claim.
At Accident Direct we are not afraid to help people on how to pursue a claim against a solicitor or other professionals who have committed negligence to give you the fullest amount of compensation.
If you consider yourself to have been a victim of professional negligence and that professional has charged you too much there are two different types of procedures:

If you feel that you have been a victim of professional negligence, then please do not hesitate to contact us via our online services, following our guides or by simply phoning us. We will always be happy to help.

Time Limits:

Here at Accidents Direct our expertise covers a range of legal issues, such a compensation, professional disciplinary hearings, private and public enquiries, professional misconduct and incompetence. We also study clinical negligence, medical misconduct and medical ethics cases.
When filing a claim, the law states that court proceedings have to be issued within a certain time span, known as the limitation period.
All negligence claims are subjected to time limits, therefore it is important not to delay your claim. In most solicitors’ negligence and other professional negligence claims, you have six years to issue court proceedings. As a general rule, this period starts from the date when your solicitor was negligent, or the date you suffered loss.
However, if you can show that you were not aware that your professional adviser had been negligent until after the date of negligence, you may be entitled to more time and will usually be allowed to issue your claim up to three years from the date you found out, or, six years from the date of the negligence, whichever is the latter.
In some extreme cases, if the negligence was deliberately concealed from you, the full six year limitation period will only run from the date you found out.

Negligently Drafted Wills:

It is important to remember that a solicitor (or any non-qualified will writer) owes a duty of care not just to their client making a will, but to beneficiaries under the will too. The common causes of solicitor negligence claims in this field are:

The solicitor (or other professional) also has a duty to administer the estate properly and in accordance with the law. If he or she fails to do so then the executors are entitled to bring a professional negligence claim for financial loss suffered as a result of the solicitor’s negligence.

Negligence in Mergers:

Any clients should know that solicitors offer a range of deals, therefore, any qualified lawyer should be able to assist with all types of mergers and acquisitions including the acquisition of shares, asses acquisition and management buy-outs.
Therefore claims for negligence are as follows:

Negligence in Employment Contracts:

A competent solicitor will be able to advise you on business contract legal advice and contractual documentation.
Therefore, negligence claims look at:

If you feel that you have been treated badly by your solicitor, causing you loss, then contact Accidents Direct today.
There are a number of ways to fund a Professional Negligence claim, from a contingency fee basis to Legal Aid.

Updated on 29/06/2009

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