Professional Negligence Claims

Negligent advice from a professional can have a damaging impact on both individuals and businesses in terms of financial loss and inconvenience and can result in the need to make professional negligence claims. Kuits’ professional negligence team can help you recover losses arising from negligent advice, whether that be by way of alternative dispute resolution or a Court claim.

If you feel that you have been given bad advice and/or suffered loss due to poor advice, we can help. Kuits have expertise in relation to claims against solicitors, accountants and financial advisors, and claims in relation to trustee or executor negligence and property transactions.

Kuits will help by providing you with an initial assessment of the merits and the value of your claim, entering into alternative dispute resolution with the negligent professional, issuing a Court claim if it is necessary to do so and guiding you through the Court process.

The Legal Position

Professional negligence occurs when a professional fails to perform their obligations to the required standard. To establish a professional negligence claim, you will need to show that there has been:

  • A breach of a contractual term (express or implied);
  • A breach of the duty of care owed by the professional to you;
  • A breach of fiduciary duty; or
  • A breach of statutory duty.

This will involve demonstrating that the professional’s services were below the standards expected of a reasonably capable professional in their specific area of expertise.

Making a Court Claim

The limitation period for a professional negligence claim is typically 6 years from the date that the negligent advice is given, although there are certain circumstances in which the limitation period can be extended.

The cost of making a claim will depend on the value of the losses sought. Our team will help you through every step of the litigation procedure, including an assessment of the likely costs involved in proceeding with a Court claim.

Assessment of Compensation

A Court will award you any reasonable losses that were incurred as a result of negligent advice from a professional. The Court expects parties to have mitigated their losses i.e. minimise the impact that the negligent advice has had and not take any actions that will increase losses.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The litigation process can be very time consuming, costly and stressful. Parties are encouraged to attempt to settle the dispute prior to the issuing of a Court claim by following the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence.

There are several forms of alternative dispute resolution that can be used to settle a dispute before or during a Court claim, including: mediation, arbitration, adjudication and early neutral evaluation.

Our team will explore alternative dispute resolution at each stage of your dispute, with a view to obtaining the best result possible.

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