Court of Appeal dismisses appeal in solicitor’s professional negligence case

The Court of Appeal has today handed down judgment in Blower v GH Canfield LLP [2025] EWCA Civ 1627, considering issues around conflicts of interest for solicitors and the pleading of claims regarding the actions of third parties.

The case concerns alleged negligence by the Respondent in agreeing to a settlement at mediation whilst acting for the Appellant and various other members of her family,  including her bankrupt husband. At first instance, His Honour Judge Paul Matthews had found in favour of the Respondent and that there was no negligence. He further found that if negligence had been established, there was no coherently pleaded case on causation. He was not asked to consider a claim for damages on a loss of a chance basis.

The Appellant was granted permission to appeal in relation to whether the Respondent was acting under a conflict of interest, and whether causation had been adequately pleaded. Both grounds were dismissed; the Judge had considered the case on conflict of interests as it had been pleaded and presented at trial, which was a much narrower basis than that argued on appeal. On causation, the Court accepted that the claim had been incoherently pleaded, and that the Judge had already given the Appellant latitude by going outside of the pleadings such that he could not then be criticised for failing to go further and consider a loss of a chance claim that was not before him.

The Judgment is a useful reminder of the importance of a Claimant ensuring that all elements of a claim are fully pleaded, especially as to causation and the need to particularise what would specifically have happened had there been no negligence as to cause the claimed loss.

Jonathan Seitler KC and Lemuel Lucan-Wilson acted for GH Canfield LLP at the trial below and in the Court of Appeal.

Read the full judgment