You have a right to expect a certain standard of service, care and skill from your professional advisors. When that professional standard slips, decisive action is needed to limit any damage and recover losses that it may have caused to you as their client. A professional negligence dispute is always sensitive and can be particularly damaging for a business; so you’ll want to be sure your case is handled by a specialist team you can trust.

Our expert team acts for companies, organisations and private individuals in actions against professionals operating in various sectors. Our work includes pursuing claims against solicitors, barristers, surveyors and valuers, the financial services sector - including accountants, auditors and other pensions professionals - and construction professionals.

We also advise on insurance-related issues, including Professional Indemnity and Directors' and Officers' insurance.

Senior members of our team are based in each of our offices in Bristol, Bath, Swindon and London. The team aims to achieve the maximum recovery as soon as possible after a claim has been identified, and before proceedings are issued where possible, to include pro-active use of alternative dispute resolution methods.

We are members of the Professional Negligence Lawyers' Association. Our team includes accredited mediators, and we have established experience in litigation, mediation and arbitration.

We also defend professionals on the instructions of insurers, or via self-insurance procedures.

Funding your professional negligence case

The Professional Negligence team is committed to ensuring cost-effective dispute resolution. The depth of the team means that your claim will always be handled at the appropriate level, and you will find that we have competitive hourly rates. Depending on the circumstances of your case, we are also able to offer a variety of funding options, including conditional fees, fee payment schemes and after-the-event insurance arrangements. We will discuss your specific options with you at the start of your case, and assist in choosing the best route for you.

Examples of our recent experience include:

• Advising a Corporate client relating to the failure of former Solicitors to exercise a lease break clause resulting in significant ongoing liabilities from unwanted property for the remainder of the term. We were able to negotiate a commercial resolution offering our client peace of mind as well as compensation for losses incurred and management time in dealing with the dispute.
• Advising a client who had been let down by Solicitors in relation to a claim against the Ministry of Defence for malicious falsehood ending his army career. We were the third firm that was instructed with his original Solicitors seeking to blame in part the second Solicitors firm and Counsel. We were able to negotiate a position whereby Insurers for the first Solicitors compensated our client in full and then pursued their contribution claim as against the other parties. In fact that aspect went to trial in the High Court and the Judge indicated that we had negotiated higher compensation for our client than he would have been awarded at trial.
• Various claims against Executors/Administrators and their legal advisers concerning the administration of Estates and the mis-administration of Estates. As a firm we have very strong private client experience and often called on to assist/resolve problems that arise with regard to the administration of Estates.
• Acting for a client whose Legal Expense Insurance Claim arising from an accident had been wrongly turned down by Legal Expense Insurers and pursuing matters as against those Insurers successfully through the Financial Ombudsman Service such that the client was compensated for the loss of opportunity in bringing a claim that had become statute barred.
• Pursuing a claim against a dishonest Accountant on behalf of a client to include liaising with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in order that action could be taken to remove the Chartered Accountant from the Roll. Liaising with the Police in order that enquiries could be made and thereafter recovering client's losses from the Accountant's Bankers who had wrongly allowed single signature cheques to be cashed on a dual signatory account.