Were barristers negligent in failing to advise about a weak potential claim against former solicitors?
The issue: Were barristers negligent in failing to advise about a weak potential claim against former solicitors? The facts: In an extremely complicated and long drawn out claim, Mr and Mrs F instructed several firms of solicitors to advise them, initially to recover money they invested in a holiday development in Spain, and subsequently to pursue negligence claims against some of the solicitors for their conduct of the recovery action. The negligence alleged by F against the claimant solicitors (PJH) – and by PJH against the defendant barristers – consisted in a failure to advise them of the time limit applicable to a potential claim against their previous solicitors, W. The lost claim against W would itself have been a claim for negligence in failing to advise F of the time limit applicable to a claim against another firm, LL. The lost claim against LL would have been for negligent advice which allegedly led F to lose the opportunity to settle the original recovery claim on favourabl
