Investing your hard-earned money into a service can be an incredibly profitable investment for both you and the person whose services you’re purchasing. However, it’s never good when the service you invest in ends up unsatisfactory – even less so when seeking professional assistance. Being let down by a professional such as a solicitor, accountant etc., can be especially devastating, as it’s these people that we instil the most of our trust (and finances).
Given the nature of their profession, we often feel comfortable enlisting the services of these professionals, so when a negligent solicitor makes an error, it can leave us considerably out of pocket and with a somewhat bruised ego. You may have heard of negligence in the medical industry, which involves individuals seeing compensation for poor medical service. Worst case scenario, professional negligence claims against solicitors could result in a client suing a solicitor for negligence if the client has suffered a financial loss.
You might wonder what kind of errors a professional must make to result in negligence claims against solicitors? There are various ways people could fall victim to a negligent solicitor; here, we outline several of the most common legal mistakes that solicitors make:
Conveyancing Mistakes
One of the most common legal mistakes people fall victim to due to a negligent solicitor is conveyancing issues. Conveyancing is one of the most popular reasons that members of the public seek out legal advice, with 78% of consumers opting to use the services of a solicitor as opposed to a licensed conveyancer or an online conveyancing service.
Legal matters involving property can be highly time-consuming and potentially confusing for all parties involved, so it’s not surprising that the scope of things going wrong is more prominent than in other legal matters. Some of the most common mistakes that a solicitor could make during the process of buying or selling a property are as follows:
- They fail to conduct proper searches.
- They fail to address the differences between ‘tenants in common’ and ‘joint tenants’ if the property is due to be owned jointly.
- Failure to identify errors with leases.
- Not informing clients about the property’s planning restrictions – should they apply.
- If they fail to identify a public right of way/footpath or crossing through the property.
- Failure to avoid delay.
- If the solicitor in question makes an error in the property’s title and many more.
Given how expensive the act of purchasing a property is nowadays, you can only imagine how much a mistake or error made by a negligent solicitor would increase the overall expenses. Providing that the client has lost money due to the solicitor’s mistake, they should be able to make a professional negligence claim. Also, be cautious of time-sensitive sales such as auctions where the risks are elevated.
Making Errors While Writing A Will
Another common issue that negligent solicitors make is errors within a will, whether that be failing to follow the guidance of the testator or with the wording of the document. Not to mention, it’s not uncommon for solicitors to make mistakes while witnessing or executing the will either. Additionally, it’s not only negligent solicitors that make legal mistakes with wills; those who seek the services of unqualified will writers can also claim that if an error is made with a will, they should or would have been a beneficiary. Some of the most common mistakes that a solicitor or unqualified will writers can make while writing a will are as follows:
- Errors in miscommunication or misunderstandings can lead to requests not being properly recorded, or left out, which worst-case scenario, can hurt beneficiaries.
- Delays with the proceedings may have resulted in the deceased failing to sign their will before their death, meaning their instructions are not carried out.
- Failing to advise clients with a joint tenancy to sever it before their death, their appointed beneficiary will receive the deceased share, so this provision in their will has no bearing.
- Miscalculation of inheritance tax and many more.
Suppose you are a beneficiary or an intended beneficiary of a will, and you have suffered financial loss due to a negligent solicitor. In that case, you might be able to make a claim using professional negligence claims solicitors such as Hugh James. Learn more about professional negligence here and their other legal services, or consider following their blog for more legal-related topics. Alternatively, consider contacting a team member directly to discover how they could advise you about negligent solicitors.
Failing To Meet Deadlines
Even professionals fail to meet deadlines occasionally; however, doing so for solicitors can be terrible practice. Depending on the case a solicitor is handling, some instances have time-sensitive deadlines that need to be adhered to get the result the client desires.
Suppose that a solicitor is handling a compensation claim case after a client has fallen victim to an accident. In that case, the claim needs to be made within three years from the date of the accident. Failure to meet this deadline could result in the client missing out on the compensation they’re due to receive, resulting in the client suing the solicitor for negligence.
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