Cost pressures & solicitors’ negligence are no excuse for cutting corners, says Helen Pugh
The expansion of the portals, conditional fee agreement and after-the-event insurance reforms, legal aid cuts and the unstoppable march towards costs proportionality all contribute to challenging times for litigation solicitors. Should this be a reason to adjust the standard of care owed by such solicitors? No, was the answer given in the recent Court of Appeal decision of Procter v Raleys Solicitors [2015] EWCA Civ 400, [2015] All ER (D) 227 (Apr).
The facts
Mr Procter was a Yorkshire miner who developed vibration white finger in the course of his employment with British Coal and later the UK Coal Mining Limited (the employers). Both employers participated in a DTI compensation scheme to which Procter was entitled to apply.
Raleys Solicitors held themselves out as experts in handling miners’ claims for compensation and indeed handled many thousands of these claims. Procter duly instructed Raleys to pursue his claim in or around January 2000.
Raleys operated a standard procedure for dealing with these types of claim. Procter was sent an initial
