Competence

A man who lost his pension after investing in self-storage pods with disastrous results was not the client of the law firm who advised on it, a judge has held.

It is difficult to imagine a “more obvious breach of duty” by a conveyancing solicitor than failing to register its new owner, the High Court has said in a case where it had “disastrous consequences”.

The High Court has rejected a “fanciful” £600,000 conveyancing negligence claim against the law firm Gateley, based on an error admitted by the firm.

A defunct Italian law firm that operated in London has been ordered by the High Court to pay €3.5m to investors in a failed holiday development that allegedly had links to the Mafia.

A law firm in Wiltshire is offering a ‘Wills through a window’ service as law firms look for ways to execute wills validly amidst a spike in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A High Court judge has strongly criticised Slater & Gordon for a “wholly unacceptable” failure to give him a crucial letter when applying for an urgent injunction in a police misconduct case.

An employer acted reasonably in relying on legal advice that the restrictive covenants on a new employee were unlikely to be enforceable, even though they proved to be, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

A miner who lost the chance of compensation due to the negligence of his solicitors is entitled to damages because later evidence indicating that he was not eligible was irrelevant, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The High Court has struck out a claim for professional negligence, breach of contract and fiduciary duty made against a central London law firm which was based on “incomprehensible pleadings”.

The High Court has found national law firm Gateley negligent in its advice to the owner of land in Nottingham that led to him missing out on some of the profits from its redevelopment.

A married couple has largely failed in a claim of negligence against a firm of solicitors which had admitted that it failed to advise properly on a separate negligence case against another law firm.

Solicitors must think beyond the drafting of non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements to the “impression created” by them, a panel of experts has warned.

HM Land Registry has published how many requests for information it sent to law firms about their applications, with one receiving them in 68% of those it submitted.

The Land Registry has dropped plans to publish a chart of the top 50 law firms it deals with, ranked by the number of incomplete or erroneous applications they make.

The Law Society’s toughened up code for completion, which comes into force on 1 May and reflects last year’s Dreamvar ruling, has divided opinion among conveyancers.