Professional liability News

Neil Fawcett gives legal opinion that estate agents could be 'negligent' for not disclosing air pollution levels

19th March 2021

3PB’s commercial barrister Neil Fawcett has co-produced,  with Jessica Simor QC from Matrix Chambers,  a 20-page legal opinion for the Central Office of Public Interest which says there is a "strong legal argument" that estate agents not disclosing air pollution levels would be considered negligent. This follows the news about a new pollution rating tool for every postcode in the UK, addresspollution.org - using 1.5 billion data points generated by air pollution experts at Imperial...

Top arbitrator and litigator David Parratt QC joins 3PB

29th January 2021

3PB Head of Chambers David Berkley QC is delighted to announce that barrister and former Advocate David Parratt QC (call: 1999/Silk: 2017) has joined full-time from Arnot Manderson Chambers in Scotland, having previously been a door tenant with the national chambers. David (pictured here) is a leading counsel for international and UK arbitrations and also has experience acting as arbitrator. He is renowned for his work in commercial, construction, engineering and energy disputes. He has...

Property conveyancing solicitors and tax practitioners involved with stamp duty land tax need to be wary after a rise in claims against them for professional negligence for failing to advise on, or failure to submit a return for, Multiple Dwelling Relief (MDR). 3PB’s commercial and tax specialist barrister Max Schofield, who has described the present spike in claims as  a “new negligence outbreak”, explains the importance of multiple dwellings relief when considering stamp duty land...

3PB Barristers have created a dedicated webpage on its website to act as a hub for the many articles, briefings and webinar and podcast recordings about lockdown laws and regulations as well as practical issues like court attendance, e-bundles, remote and hybrid hearings. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to create employment, contractual and other legal challenges which are in many ways unprecedented. The impact of the virus is being felt, and in response, 3PB have...

3PB Head of Chambers David Berkley QC has warned that lawyers waiting until the last minute to file claims are taking huge negligence risks given the court’s hardline approach. The summer’s Court of Appeal judgment in Woodward v Phoenix established there was no duty on a party to inform the other side of procedural mistakes, even though it denies the other party of its rights of action. The case involved a claim served on the...

When will a solicitor need to give a warning to his client about obvious risks that come to his attention when performing his retainer, but which he has not been formally retained to advise on? Richard Whitehouse  analyses the Court of Appeals recent decision in Lyons v. Fox Williams LLP [2018] EWCA Civ 2347. Click here to read Richard's analysis. Richard is a Commercial Law barrister specialising in professional negligence and business disputes. View Richard's profile here.