Most people who have been failed by a solicitor are not entirely sure whether what happened qualifies as negligence. They know something went wrong. They know they are worse off than they should be. But they are not sure whether that rises to the level of a legal claim. This post sets out what actually matters.
The three things a negligence claim needs
To succeed in a professional negligence claim against a solicitor, three elements generally need to be established.
1. Duty of care. The solicitor owed you a duty to act with reasonable skill and care. This is almost always present when you have formally instructed a solicitor and they have accepted that instruction. The duty arises from the professional relationship itself.
2. Breach of duty. The solicitor fell below the standard of a reasonably competent solicitor in that area of law. This is not about whether a different solicitor might have done things differently, or whether better advice might theoretically have been available somewhere. It is about whether the advice or conduct was genuinely deficient by the standards of the profession.
3. Causation and loss. The breach caused you a financial loss that can be identified and quantified. There has to be a clear connection between what the solicitor did or failed to do and the financial harm you suffered. And the loss has to be a real one, not a theoretical possibility.
If all three are present, you have the basis for a claim. If the advice was poor but you lost nothing as a result, there is no viable claim. If you suffered a loss but it was caused by something other than the solicitor's conduct, the same applies. The analysis has to run through all three stages.
What counts as a breach
This is where most people feel uncertain. They know something went wrong but are not sure whether it was bad enough to constitute a breach of duty. Some useful reference points: missing a limitation deadline almost always constitutes a breach. Giving advice that was wrong on a clear and established point of law usually does too. Settling a matter for significantly less than it was worth without your informed consent, failing to carry out basic due diligence checks, not advising you about a material risk that a competent solicitor would have identified, or simply abandoning a matter without proper communication are all examples of conduct that falls below the required standard.
Harder cases include situations where the solicitor made a judgment call that turned out to be wrong, or where the advice was reasonable at the time but did not produce the best possible outcome. Not every bad result is negligence. The question is always whether the conduct fell below what a reasonably competent solicitor would have done, not whether better could theoretically have been achieved.
Getting a clear answer without cost
The uncertainty around whether something constitutes negligence is one of the main reasons people do not pursue claims they could legitimately bring. Sold Short exists to address that. A free review gives you an honest, straightforward assessment of whether what happened has the hallmarks of a viable negligence claim. There is no cost, no commitment, and no pressure.
If the review suggests there is a claim worth pursuing, we connect you with a specialist professional negligence solicitor from our panel. They carry out their own assessment and, if they agree the case has merit, take it on a no win no fee basis. If the review suggests the claim is not viable, you are not out of pocket. You have an answer and you can move forward.
Sold Short connects people who have been let down by their solicitors with specialist professional negligence lawyers. Free review. No win no fee.
