Professional Negligence Solicitors London
We are a specialist professional negligence firm providing expert legal support to individuals
or companies who have been wronged by a professional.
Professional Negligence Services
Our professional negligence team is led by Avi Gordon, a Legal 500-recognised Senior Solicitor and member of the Professional Negligence Lawyers’ Association (PNLA), with over a decade’s experience bringing multi-million pound claims against solicitors, barristers, City law firms, accountants, and surveyors.
Starting a Professional Negligence Claim
When you rely on a professional, the last thing you expect is to become the victim of negligent advice or representation. Professional negligence can have a serious financial and personal impact on both individuals and businesses, and our dispute resolution team is here to help you recover those losses.
We handle complex and high-value claims against a wide range of professionals, including solicitors, barristers, accountants, surveyors, and financial advisers. Unlike larger commercial firms, we offer a highly personalised service with direct access to your solicitor throughout the claims process.
“One of the few firms in the sector who really have knowledge of the area. Very competent, sensible, and a pleasure to work with.”
Legal 500
How We Assess Your Claim
To succeed in a professional negligence claim, three things must be established: the professional owed you a duty of care, they breached that duty, and you suffered a loss as a result. The loss you have incurred forms the basis of your claim.
Professional negligence claims are subject to strict time limits. Under the Limitation Act 1980, you generally have three years from the date you knew (or should have known) of the negligence to bring a claim. Acting early is important, and we recommend seeking advice as soon as you suspect something has gone wrong.
Our Approach
Professional negligence is a specialist area of law and requires a firm with genuine experience of how these claims work in practice. At Freeman Harris, we take a staged approach: identifying the breach, assessing the losses caused, and pursuing the claim. Before any court proceedings, most professional negligence claims are subject to the Professional Negligence Pre-Action Protocol, which requires a formal Letter of Claim and a structured response period. We manage this process on your behalf.
Avi Gordon has conducted professional negligence litigation at the highest levels, including claims against City law firms before the High Court and the Court of Appeal. Our reported cases are available on BAILII.
Case Highlights
We have represented clients in multi-million pound professional negligence claims, including a reported decision involving an £18 million dispute against a City law firm, and claims against firms from across the legal and financial services sectors. Details of our case work are available on request.
“An excellent litigator. He is tenacious, firm, and assesses litigation risk well. His willingness to act on risk-sharing arrangements is rare for someone of his calibre.”
Fees and Funding
We offer several fee structures. Where appropriate, and following an initial risk assessment, we will consider no-win-no-fee arrangements. We will discuss all funding options with you at the outset so there are no surprises.
If you have a dispute with a professional service provider, contact us. We offer an initial review meeting where we will assess your prospects of success based on the evidence you can provide.
Disputes Team
Avi Gordon
Senior SolicitorAvi has over a decade’s experience dealing with all aspects of professional negligence disputes, with particular focus on preparing complex multi-million pound claims against solicitors and barristers.Isabel Fisher
Trainee SolicitorIsabel assists the professional negligence team with their claims assisting in research and progressing the claims.
Professional Negligence Fees
Professional Negligence Claims FAQs
- What is professional negligence?
In simple terms, professional negligence is when a professional you have instructed to work with fails to perform their duties to the required standards or breaches a duty of care. The professional’s negligence would result in you suffering a loss.
A professional could be a solicitor, an accountant, an investment manager or any other professional who had been instructed to act for you on a formal basis.
If you think the professional you worked with was negligent in providing their service, and may have failed you, you can contact us to discuss your claim.
- Which professionals can you make a claim against?
Sometimes professionals can make mistakes. Such mistakes can cause problems for their clients, causing financial loss amongst other issues.
When such a dispute arises, it is known as ‘professional negligence’.
If you have been affected by mistakes made by a professional, our highly experienced professional negligence team can assist you. We have assisted with claims against professionals such as:
- architects;
- accountants;
- barristers;
- estate agents;
- solicitors;
- surveyors; and
- insurance brokers.
When you instruct a professional, they will provide you with a written agreement. This would be in compliance with the law as well as any professional body rules and regulations, i.e. the contract. As a result, the dispute between the parties would be judged based on this contract.
Professionals owe a duty of care to their clients, which is why you can pursue a claim for breach of contract and negligence.
- What previous cases have you worked on?
The head of Freeman Harris’s Professional Negligence Department, Avi Gordon, has:
- Acted in a multi-million-pound professional negligence claim against a private client solicitor arising out of the negligent drafting of a will.
- Acted in a multi-million-pound professional negligence claim against a City law firm arising from their failure to issue a Claim Form prior to the limitation period expiring resulting in the clients losing their very valuable claim against a large bank.
- Obtained judgment in the client’s favour following a complex preliminary issue trial against the client’s previous solicitor in the Senior Courts Costs Office in respect of the unlawful termination of a Conditional Fee Agreement (see Karis Developments Ltd v EMW Law LLP [2020] 1 WLUK 19).
- Acted in a multi-million professional negligence claim against a Silver Circle law firm arising out of negligent advice in relation to an After the Event insurance policy.
- Acted for Karis Developments Limited in its £18 million negligence claim against Howard Kennedy LLP arising out of their drafting of a large-scale development agreement with a local authority.
- Acted in a multi-million-pound claim against a law firm arising from their numerous failures (including but not limited to costs budgeting and disclosure) which ultimately resulted in the client’s substantial claim against a large bank being struck out.
- Acted in a large professional negligence claim against a well-known family law practice in respect of their negligent failure to enforce a multi-million-pound maintenance order against the client’s ex-husband by issuing proceedings under the wrong procedure resulting in those proceedings subsequently being struck out with the client being ordered to pay a six-figure sum in adverse costs and no recovery under the maintenance order.
- Acted in a professional negligence claim against a law firm arising out of their negligent failure to name the correct party on a Claim Form.
- What if I have received bad service from a professional?
If you have received a poor service from a professional, it is worth making a claim if you have incurred a loss. These losses need to be assessed and valued, so your claim can be calculated.
The purpose of a professional negligence claim is to assess the financial value of the loss you have suffered from, and to put you in the position that you would have been in if the professional wasn’t negligent in providing their service.
An example of this would be a Financial Advisor giving his client factually incorrect information, which resulted in the client losing a large amount of money.
- Does a professional negligence matter need to go to court?
Contact our Negligence Team
A little about you and what you need will help us with our response.