Solicitors hold a position of trust. When you instruct one, you are relying on their knowledge, their judgment, and their commitment to act in your best interests. When that trust is broken and it costs you money, you have the right to hold them accountable. That is what professional negligence law is for.
What solicitor negligence actually means
Professional negligence is not about a solicitor you found difficult or one you simply fell out with. It is not about a case that did not go the way you hoped, or advice you disagreed with after the fact. It is about advice or conduct that fell below the standard a reasonably competent solicitor in that area of law would have provided, and that caused you a financial loss as a direct result.
That failure can take many forms. A solicitor who missed a limitation deadline and permanently destroyed your right to bring a claim. One who gave you incorrect advice about your legal position and you made decisions on the basis of it. One who failed to carry out proper due diligence in a transaction and left you exposed to a risk they should have identified. One who settled a matter for far less than the evidence supported, without advising you that a better outcome was achievable and without your informed consent to the terms.
The question is not whether you received something from the process. It is whether you received what you were entitled to, advised by someone who met their professional obligations to you.
What connects all of these situations is a professional failure and a client who paid the price for it. The solicitor was engaged, paid, and trusted. The client followed the advice. The outcome was worse than it should have been. Where the gap between the outcome and what a competent solicitor should have achieved is a financial one, a professional negligence claim provides the mechanism for recovery.
The standard you were entitled to expect
When you instruct a solicitor, the law does not require them to be exceptional. It does not require them to win every case or secure every possible advantage. But it does require them to meet the standard of a reasonably competent solicitor with appropriate skill and knowledge in the relevant area of practice. That means understanding the applicable law. It means keeping you properly informed about the progress of your matter. It means identifying risks and deadlines. It means advising you on your options honestly rather than taking the path of least resistance.
It also means not acting on their own judgment where the matter affects you without giving you the information you need to make an informed decision. Where a solicitor acts without proper instructions, settles without consent, or fails to explain a material risk, they have not met the standard. It is not an unreasonably high bar. It is the basic floor of competent professional practice.
Why people do not always know they have a claim
One of the most common things Sold Short hears is that people did not realise they could go back and pursue the solicitor. They had signed the paperwork, the matter was closed, and they assumed that was that. The settlement was done. The case was over. What happened, happened.
In many situations that assumption is wrong. The conclusion of the original matter does not close the door on a negligence claim. The question is whether the advice or conduct that led to that conclusion was negligent, not whether the conclusion itself looked final at the time. A free review will tell you whether the door is open and whether what is on the other side of it is worth pursuing.
Sold Short connects people who have been let down by their solicitors with specialist professional negligence lawyers. Free review. No win no fee.
