COMMERCIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS

At Birch Law our professional negligence solicitors are experts in dealing with professional negligence matters. We act for businesses, business owners, directors, and third-party advisors. Our professional negligence solicitors have been involved in an extensive array of professional negligence matters over the years including claims against solicitors, tax advisors, accountants, surveyors, and architects.

You should be able to trust your professional advisors. If however things do go wrong you need a firm of solicitors that will not only provide exceptional legal advice but will also not rest until you are fully compensated for your losses.

If you would like to discuss any of our services with us, feel free to contact us using the form below or give us a call at 0161 669 4621 for a free no obligation chat. We look forward to assisting you with your legal concerns.

BIRCH LAW. For businesses and individuals. PROBLEM SOLVERS, EXCEPTIONAL ADVICE, CLIENT FOCUSED, UNRIVALLED VALUE FOR MONEY.

HOW CAN BIRCH LAW HELP?

If you would like any further information or need advice about any dispute, please get in touch with us today. You can contact us today on 0161 669 4621 or by email on sbirchall@birchlaw.co.uk for a free no obligation chat.

Professional negligence is where a professional person (such as an accountant or solicitor) fails to carry out their services to the standards required of them. Professionals owe their clients a duty of care and must perform their services with a reasonable level of skill and care expected of like professionals working in the same industry. Negligence occurs when that professional fails to meet those standards and often results in the client suffering some form of damage or financial loss.

To establish a claim for professional negligence you must prove the following:

  • The professional owed you a duty of care. You need to establish that there was a close relationship between you and the professional or a legal obligation on the professional to adhere to a standard of reasonable care when carrying out their services. As we are dealing with professionals there is already a recognized duty, such as the duty owed by solicitors to their clients.
  • That duty of care was breached. The professional needs to have breached that duty by falling below the standard of care that could be reasonably expected from a professional carrying out those services in those circumstances.
  • The breach of duty caused you to suffer a loss. In order to bring a claim you must have suffered some form of damage or loss. To determine damage in professional negligence claims you need to compare your position now against the position you would have been in had you not received negligent advice.

If you believe that you have a negligence claim it is important to obtain legal advice at the earliest possible opportunity. Once we have taken instructions and investigated your claim we will provide you with our assessment including prospects of success and what we believe you will recover if you are successful.

If you want to proceed we will then send a letter before action (LBA) to the defendant setting out the basis of your claim and what we believe is due. If the defendant does not settle your claim we will then look to escalate matters and commence formal court proceedings. We will deal with the whole process on your behalf and get you the compensation you deserve.

If you run a business, it is likely that you will need to instruct a solicitor at some point for advice and support. A solicitor who is instructed to act on your behalf will automatically owe you a duty to act with reasonable care and skill. If the level of service received falls below a reasonably acceptable standard, then the solicitor will have breached that duty of care and you may be able to pursue them for financial compensation.

Examples of solicitor negligence include:

  • You have been given incorrect or incomplete legal advice.
  • There have been insufficient checks done in a legal transaction such that you have incomplete or incorrect information when deciding whether to proceed.
  • An administrative mistake has been made such as in the drafting of court documentation.
  • An important court deadline has been missed and has led to adverse sanctions for you and your case.
  • A limitation date has been missed (being the time required by law for you to commence formal court proceedings at court) meaning that you are unable to continue with it.

Every business will need to engage with an accountant and/ or tax advisor to manage their financial affairs. When performing their services, they will automatically owe you a duty to act with reasonable care and skill. If the level of service received falls below a reasonably acceptable standard, then the accountant and/or tax advisor will have breached that duty of care and you may be able to pursue them for financial compensation.

Examples of accountant and tax advisor negligence claims include:

  • You have been given incorrect tax advice which has adverse tax implications for you or your business.
  • Accountants will often be instructed to review a company’s documents and ensure that their accounts are in order. If an accountant misses out vital information the company could be held liable and suffer financially as a result.
  • During the acquisition or sale of a company’s assets an accountant may be instructed to value the company’s assets. If the accountant fails to accurately value the assets then, depending on who instructed the accountant, either the buyer or seller may have grounds to bring a negligence claim.
  • Tax advisors may also be instructed to advise on the tax implications of the sale of assets or shares in a company. Failure to advise correctly can result in significant losses and lead to a professional negligence claim.
  • Accountants will often be instructed to prepare and file a company’s tax returns and annual accounts at the end of the financial year. If an accountant fails to properly prepare or file these documents with HMRC then the company could be liable for penalties and interest.

During our initial consultation we can discuss our funding options with you. This may include acting on a privately paying basis or acting for you on a no win no fee-based arrangement. We will also investigate whether you have the benefit of before the event insurance which you may be able to benefit from.

Should you suffer damage or financial loss because of a professional advisor then you may be able to bring a claim against them. At Birch Law we are experts in professional negligence matters and can help you recover the compensation you deserve. We can help you assess the prospects of your claim, provide advice on your options, provide you with an indicative valuation of your claim, and manage your case from start to finish.

We offer a free no obligation telephone assessment to give you a better understanding of the merits of your potential claim before you proceed. So please feel free to contact us or complete our contact form and we will call you back to discuss your case. If would like to discuss a professional negligence matter with one of our dedicated professional negligence solicitors today please contact us on 0161 669 4621 or by email to sbirchall@birchlaw.co.uk.

Whichever funding route you choose, you can rest assure that our experienced solicitors will always do their utmost to keep costs as low as possible. If you would like to discuss any of our services with us, feel free to contact us using the form below or give us a call at 0161 669 4621 for a free no obligation chat.

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU

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BOOK A TIME TO DISCUSS YOUR MATTER

Please complete our online enquiry form or contact us at sbirchall@birchlaw.co.uk for your free 30 minute consultation. You will be able to choose a time and date that works for you.

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MEET WITH ONE OF OUR ADVISORS

Meet with one of our advisors on MS Teams, Zoom, by telephone or in person. They will find out about your legal needs and discuss how best we can help you. We will set out your options and provide transparent costs information so you can make an informed decision as to how you want to proceed.

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IMPLEMENT

Once we have agreed on the correct course of action for you, we will then implement and execute your instructions.

CONTACT US TODAY