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Howard Colman was instructed by a substantial commercial property client to pursue a claim for damages for professional negligence against its former solicitors.
The claim was in relation to a transaction which took place many years ago and, although the purchase was completed at the time without any problems, it was not until several years later that the client, who purchased the property, became aware of an outstanding liability. The local authority claimed that it was entitled to be paid a sum in excess of £2,000,000 in respect of a Section 106 Agreement which had been entered into by the seller to enable it to obtain the planning consent for the development. The obligation was attached to the property and so became the liability of the client.
The client contended that its solicitors had been negligent in failing to ensure that there were no outstanding liabilities on completion and so brought proceedings to recover damages.
The case was heavily defended with the Defendants denying all liability and alleging that the client had been contributorily negligent, failing to mitigate its loss.
The matter proceeded to the stage where it was due to come to trial in the High Court in June of this year and most of the preparatory work had been completed. The parties then agreed to attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation.
At the mediation, Howard is pleased to report that the parties were able to reach a satisfactory settlement, the terms of which are confidential.
Professional negligence claims often, at first glance, appear to be straightforward but, upon investigation they can be more complex than anticipated. Invariably, there are issues regarding causation and loss which, in many cases, require specialist knowledge and expertise to resolve.
The vast majority of these cases are settled during mediation or other forms of ADR. Howard and his team regularly act in claims of this nature and have an enviable record of achieving good results for clients.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
