All lawyers owe duties to their clients. When a lawyer provides legal services to a client they have a contract with them. The responsibilities which flow from the contract depend on the terms specified in the agreement.
If the lawyer fails to perform their obligations under the contract then they may well be in breach of that contract. Also, the lawyer owes a duty to their client to exercise reasonable skill and care in handling the clients matter, regardless of any contract. If the lawyer breaches this duty they may well have been negligent. One mistake can be a breach of contract and a breach of the lawyer’s duty of care.
These two areas of liability are similar, but the claims are not quite the same. For example, a client will often have more time within which to bring a claim in negligence than for breach of contract.
If the solicitor is found to be in breach of either or both duties, then they will have to make good on the error and/or pay compensation to the client. The amount of compensation payable can be different for a breach of contract and a claim in negligence.
The following are examples of mistakes, which might lead to claims for compensation.
- Missed time limits
- Under-settling a claim
- Incorrectly drafting a document
- Failing to make the correct searches in a conveyancing transaction and missing a problem with the property as a result
- Providing incorrect or incomplete advice
This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Third Party Lawyer Negligence Claims
It might come as a surprise to learn that lawyers can even be liable to third parties with whom they have never had a contract, and for whom they never acted. Claims by third parties will usually be brought in negligence.
It might be difficult to understand why this should be the case, but to help illustrate the point, consider the following.
Example
A lawyer is asked to draw up a Will. The client wants to leave a certain property to specific Beneficiaries. By drawing up the Will in a certain way, the property is not in fact left to the intended Beneficiaries. The mistake is such that it cannot be rectified and the Beneficiaries lose their legacy.
Because the Beneficiaries should have been in the “reasonable contemplation”, the lawyer can be held responsible for their loss, even though they were never the lawyer’s clients.
The same can be the case for Beneficiaries under a Trust, and sometimes third parties involved in commercial or property transactions, if they can establish that they are owed a duty of care.
In some rare circumstances, lawyers can be liable for providing informal advice, such as that offered in the course of conversation in a social setting.
It is perhaps no surprise that if a lawyer has been dishonest or deceives a client, and third parties, they can also be liable for their losses.
How can Nelsons help?
If you think that a lawyer might have acted negligenty, whatever the circumstances, then it is certainly worth getting legal advice.
Please contact a member of our Professional Negligence team on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form for further information on making a claim for lawyer negligence.