Professional Negligence

Professionals are those who represent themselves as having more than average skills and ability. A professional is negligent when he or she fails to perform their responsibilities to the required standard, which causes you, the client, to suffer loss.

Examples of this include a solicitor undervaluing your personal injury claim or missing a court date resulting in your claim being struck out by the Court, or a surveyor failing to spot structural faults in a building that resulted in subsidence.

All professional negligence claims taken on by Specters are dealt with by an experienced lawyer with particular knowledge of this area of law.

We have both male and female specialists in this area and you can see them on the first interview for a 30 minute free consultation with no obligation.

If we take your claim on because we consider it has reasonable prospects of success, we are able to offer you a No Win No Fee arrangement.

This means that if we do not win your case you will pay us nothing, and if we succeed you will pay a success fee up to a maximum figure that we will agree with you before we take on your case.

We fund many of our Professional Negligence cases this way.

The limitation period, which is the period of time for which a claim can be made, is six years for professional negligence claims.

However, this period may be extended if your date of knowledge was later, in which case the limitation period will run for three years from the date of your knowledge of the negligence; there is an overall longstop date of 15 years, which cannot be extended.

It is important that you deal with claims swiftly in any event as the documentation or other evidence supporting your case may diminish over time or witnesses may turn out to be unavailable.

If you are not sure if your claim is time barred contact us and we will clarify the position for you.

The Pre-Action Protocol applies to Professional Negligence claims. This is a procedure that requires you (the claimant) to outline their case and the defendants to given some time to respond. This time period is usually three months to allow for investigation of the claim and to allow a response to the initial Letter of Claim that we would send on your behalf.

If after the relevant period the defendants are not prepared to make an offer you are then entitled to issue court proceedings.

If both parties agree then a half way house known as mediation is used. This is where a Mediator (who is often a professional lawyer) is appointed and both parties attend a meeting and put forward their case informally. The Mediatory will review each case and try to find a common ground and solution acceptable to both parties.

This prevents delay in the resolution of the matter as court proceedings take some time, but a mediation can only happen if both parties agree and, whilst it is encouraged by the courts, it is not mandatory.

This will depend on the particular circumstances of your case. In a building dispute for instance, it may be your architect, surveyor or builder who has provided advice or services that fell below the standard of work required of that profession.

In a legal context it may be a solicitor or barrister involved in the case that has failed to advise you properly.

Claims can also arise against IFA’s insurance brokers, IT professionals, eningeers and many other categories of professionals whose actions may give rise to a claim.

We will review your claim and advise you of the appropriate person or people you should pursue.

There is a prospect that you will have to go to court to prove your case. Statistics show that this is a rare occurence as most cases settle before trial, as parties consider the costs and risks associated with litigation.

There is also a prospect of mediation or a later meeting between the parties to see if settlement terms can be reached after evidence has been exchanged but there is a prospect you will have to go to court so you must be prepared for this eventuality when embarking on litigation.

We will need to prove on your behalf that the professional owed you a duty of care, that the duty was breached adn that because of that breach all or part of your losses arose.

You will need to show that the standard of work produced by the professional fell below the standard normally required by their profession. The test applied is an objective one but each case turns on its own facts.

In practical terms, it is improtant that you keep all the documentation, recordings, data and records which prove your case. It is also important to write down a chronology of event before you see us, along with details of any witnesses who may assist your case.

The onus is on you as the claimant to prove the case you bring.