Supreme Court in 'claimants must be honest' shocker

摘要

Here is some good news for the solicitors' professional indemnity market on issues of causation, which had been stretched via the lower court decision in this case. The Supreme Court, in Perry v Raleys Solicitors [2019] UKSC 5, has affirmed the now rather old judgment in Allied Maples Group Ltd v Simmons & Simmons [1995] 1 WLR1602 and added a modern touch. The court confirmed that a lost litigation claim is no different from any other claim for the loss of a chance, which is refreshing. When pursuing a lost opportunity claim, the claimant is still required to establish factual causation; that is, he would have been able to make an honest (if not necessarily successful) claim if the proper advice had been given.