Claims against Solicitors

Solicitors offer a valuable service for people needing legal advice when dealing with almost any subject from drafting a will to advising on an important business deal.  In most circumstances, a solicitor will be able to offer you high quality legal advice.  However when the standard of service is so low that deadlines are missed, errors are made or bad advice is given, then a professional negligence claim against a solicitor is one option open to you.

Negligent solicitors can cost their clients substantial amounts of time and money as well as creating a multitude of problems that might need to be sorted out.  Professional negligence claims against solicitors can be made if the professional negligence of a solicitor you have used has caused you to suffer a financial loss.  Our own lawyers can help you when it comes to making a claim against a solicitor whose approach to your case has been negligence/

What can go wrong when I use a Solicitor?
Solicitors should provide expert legal advice when you need it to help you with a legal issue.  When things go wrong, it can cause you a number of problems, leaving you facing a large financial cost to sort these problems out.  There are several common areas of complaint that can lead to people making a claim for compensation against a solicitor and we’ve put together a brief summary of a few of these:

Missing Limitation Dates
Many areas of law have limitation dates – a period of time after the occurrence of an event (such as an accident or the diagnosis of an industrial disease) by which you must have started legal proceedings.  You can make a claim against a solicitor for professional negligence if they have missed the limitation date and your case has been thrown out by the court.

Settling a Personal Injury Claim for less than its true value
When representing a client in a Personal Injury compensation claim a solicitor has a duty to ensure that they provide accurate advice to their client regarding the likely value of their claim.  Claims against solicitors can be made if the advice you receive greatly understates the true value of your claim or if an error is made during negotiations with another party that causes your solicitor to accept an artificially low amount of compensation.

Suing the wrong party
It sounds unlikely, but in fact there are times when, for a variety of reasons, your solicitor may issue legal proceedings against the wrong party.  This can happen in some compensation claims for asbestos related diseases where the companies involved may have been taken over or may have been split into different entities.  It can also happen when businesses share very similar names and details.

Errors in drafting a Will or Contract
Claims against solicitors might occur due to problems during the drafting of a will or an employment contract, where the negligence of a solicitor might go unnoticed for several years.  Invalid wills and improperly drawn up contracts of employment can cause huge problems for individuals and for businesses.  Making a claim against a solicitor for professional negligence compensation is one option available to you in this situation.

Failure to advise about planning permissions or building regulations
Many people will use a solicitor to help with legal issues around the purchase and renovation of a property or for a new building project.   A claim against a negligent solicitor might be necessary if they have failed to conduct thorough research into planning permissions, covenants and building regulations relating to the property you are buying or planning to build.

Claim against a solicitor with Canter Levin & Berg
If you are looking to make a claim against a solicitor after suffering a financial loss due to their poor service or negligence, then you should first make a complaint through the solicitors own complaints process.  This gives your solicitor the opportunity to investigate your complaints and it may be possible for the problem to be solved at this stage without involving a professional negligence solicitor.  However if you are not satisfied with the response from your solicitor to your complaint then you can request that the case is referred to the Legal Ombudsman.  The Ombudsman has responsibility for dealing with complaints against solicitors made by their clients and can award a limited amount of compensation to you if it finds your solicitor has provided an inadequate service.

For larger claims against solicitors the Legal Ombudsman may recommend that you use the services of a specialist professional negligence solicitor to make a claim against your solicitor.  Canter Levin & Berg Solicitors can help you when it comes to making a professional negligence claim against a solicitor.  Our professional negligence solicitors can offer you a free initial telephone consultation if you are thinking about making a claim against a solicitor.  For more information, fill in the form on our website and a member of the professional negligence team will call you back to discuss your case.  Alternatively, contact one of our professional negligence claims solicitors Sean Carty on 0151 239 1138.