What is professional negligence claim?

Professional negligence refers to a failure by a professional – such as a solicitor, surveyor, financial advisor or accountant – to carry out their duties with the appropriate level of care. This could mean they have breached the terms of their duties in a contract, failed to provide an acceptable standard of service, or breached a fiduciary or statutory duty.

Whatever the cause of the negligence, the consequences can be severe, and it is only right that you have the opportunity to seek redress as a result. If you feel that a professional has been negligent, our industry-leading employment team can advise you on whether you have a claim and the loss you may be able to recover.

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What is an example of professional negligence?

Many of the professionals we trust to advice and guide us play significant roles in important decisions, such as during legal action or concerning our finances. As such, professional negligence can have wide-reaching implications. Examples include:

• Legal negligence: a solicitor or barrister may fail to meet the expected standard of care, either by providing inaccurate advice or by missing important court deadlines
• Financial negligence: a financial advisor or accountant could provide misleading or poor advice that causes you to miss out on tax relief or become liable for larger tax bills
• Construction, architectural or engineering negligence: a professional, such as a surveyor, builder or engineer, provides defective technical advice or fails to perform their duties adequately, leaving you vulnerable to financial loss

How do I prove professional negligence?

To successfully prove professional negligence, you’ll need to be able to evidence that the professional owed you a duty that was subsequently breached. This could be:

• A breach of contractual terms
• A breach of duty that caused financial loss (for instance, the provision of substandard advice or services)

When you reach out to our team, our expert professional negligence solicitors will review the circumstances of your case and let you know whether we think you have a claim. If so, we will take you through the process of pursuing your claim step-by-step, keeping you updated and in the loop as your case progresses.

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What is the process of making a professional negligence claim?

Our specialist team of employment solicitors are vastly experienced when it comes to professional negligence claims. This means that when we review your case, errors such as those described above will be plain to see. Our solicitors will subject all the files and documents that relate to your case to proper scrutiny, enabling us to determine how much any professional negligence on the part of the professional may have cost you.

We charge a fee for this initial assessment, which is set based on the complexity of the case and the volume of documentation that needs to be reviewed. However, it's worth noting that in the event of a successful professional negligence claim, the bulk of these costs may be recoverable from the negligent advisors.

Where we consider the negligence to be obvious and your case to be particularly strong, we may even be able to offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement, commonly referred to as No Win No Fee.

It's also worth noting that in many cases we're able to settle professional negligence cases out of court, with costs and your estimated losses from the original case being paid by the other side, often through their Professional Indemnity insurance policy.

If you believe that a previous employment dispute claim was not properly handled on your behalf, call us now on 0330 041 5869 or contact us online and we'll call you back.

Why choose Slater and Gordon’s professional negligence solicitors?

We understand how difficult and frustrating it can be when you are let down by someone you trusted to support you, often during an important and potentially challenging time. We firmly believe that everyone is entitled to high-quality services they can depend upon, which is why we work tirelessly to ensure those dealing with the consequences of professional negligence have the opportunity to seek the redress they deserve.

Our friendly, industry-leading employment team have an outstanding track record of successfully pursuing professional negligence claims, and many of our solicitors have received recognition from esteemed legal publications such as Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500. With a wealth of experience and expertise, you can trust that you are in good hands.