If you have placed your trust in a Solicitor to pursue a claim for personal injury compensation and have been let down by them causing you financial loss, then you may have a claim for professional negligence against your Solicitor.

As personal injury specialists, we are able to help you to pursue a Solicitors professional negligence claim if the solicitor dealing with your personal injury claim has been negligent causing you financial loss.

It may be that if we receive the case early enough we are able to revive your existing action meaning that you can still claim the right amount of personal injury compensation.

What type of Solicitors compensation claims can we deal with for you?

Where a negligent Solicitor or fee earner has missed the limitation date – this is date by which you have to issue your claim at Court after the occurrence of the event for which you are claiming (such as an accident or the diagnosis of an industrial disease). If this happens, you can make a claim against the Solicitor for professional negligence.

Where a negligent Solicitor or fee earner has caused your personal injury claim to be struck out by the court – during your personal injury claim, your Solicitor has to comply with a number of Rules and Court Orders. If your Solicitor has failed to comply with these Rules and Court Orders then this could result in your claim being struck out by the Court i.e. the proceedings will be stopped and you will not be able to continue with them any further. Through no fault of your own you will have suffered a financial loss meaning you can bring a professional negligence claim against your Solicitor.

Where a negligent Solicitor or fee earner has under-settled your personal injury claim – in a personal injury compensation claim your Solicitor has a duty to ensure they provide accurate advice to you regarding the likely value of your claim. If the advice your personal injury Solicitor gave you means you did not receive the full amount of compensation you were entitled to, or if they made a mistake during negotiations with the other party, then you will have suffered a financial loss and may be able to recover this amount by bringing a professional negligence claim against the Solicitor.

Where a negligent Solicitor or fee earner has sued the wrong party – this can happen more often than you might imagine. It may be that your Solicitor has got the name of a Company wrong in legal proceedings or has sued the wrong party as they did not do sufficient research about who was responsible for the location where you had your accident. If you have suffered a financial loss because of this, you may be entitled to bring a Solicitor’s negligence claim.

As a result of redundancy/dismissal a Solicitor has advised you on signing a Compromise Agreement – employers who dismiss employees and pay compensation do so under the terms of a Compromise Agreement. If at the time of signing the Agreement you were aware of the possibility you had a personal injury claim, your Solicitor may be negligent if they did not protect your right to pursue a personal injury claim after the date of signing the Compromise Agreement.

What action should you take if you are concerned about your Solicitor’s service?

If you feel you have received a poor service then you may want to consider raising a complaint under your Solicitor’s Complaints Procedure which they are obliged by law to have. If you are not happy with the response you can take the matter to the Legal Ombudsman who has the power to award compensation against a Solicitor for poor service. However, where the bad service you have received amounts to negligence and financial loss then the Legal Ombudsman will probably recommend you consult a firm of Solicitors specialising in professional negligence.
By using a specialist solicitor such as Trafford Law to pursue a negligence claim you will increase your chances of success, recover the maximum amount of compensation and achieve a faster result.

Do you have a valid claim for Solicitor’s professional negligence?

When you instruct a Solicitor you are legally entitled to expect them to deal with your case with “reasonable skill and care”. If you feel that you have received poor professional advice then a court will consider whether another experienced Solicitor who carries out the same work would have offered different advice and/or the Solicitor failed to comply with the common standards of practice both overall and in the area of law in question.

In order to bring a claim for compensation for Solicitor’s negligence you would need to be able to satisfy each of the following three tests:

There has been a breach of duty – you would need to establish that the service failed to meet the standard expected.

You have suffered loss or damage – you would need to show that you have suffered loss or damage (this can also be a loss of opportunity). If not, your Solicitor may well be negligent and whilst you won’t be able to bring a claim for compensation, you will be able to raise a complaint either with the firm or the Legal Ombudsman and the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority.

The loss or damage was caused by the Solicitor’s negligence – this is also known as ‘causation’ and means that there has to be a close enough link between the Solicitor’s negligent advice and the loss or damage suffered.

Time limits on claims

It is important to pursue your Solicitors’ negligence claim as soon as possible as there are strict timescales in which you can bring these claims. The time scale for bringing a Solicitor’s professional negligence claim is within 6 years of the date you became aware of the negligence.

Contact one of our personal injury professional negligence specialists

You may feel that you have been let down by the Solicitor’s profession and are reluctant to use another.  Rest assured we will treat you and your claim with the utmost care, respect and confidentiality. You may not know where to turn or how to bring your claim and this is where we can help.

So, if you feel that you have a claim for professional negligence against a Solicitor and wish to discuss how to pursue a claim for compensation, please contact us today by claiming online or calling us on 01213 696969 and speak to one of our personal injury professional negligence specialists.

All our initial consultation advice is free of charge and without obligation. If you do have a valid claim you wish to pursue we will be able to do this on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.