Professionals, Continuing Duty And Limitation

Does a professional such as a solicitor, architect or pensions adviser have a duty to revisit their work and to correct a mistake they've made earlier? This is an important question for any professional and can be particularly significant when a client alleges that work done many years ago was negligent.

The general rule is that there is no continuing contractual duty on professionals to review their work unless the client chooses to request and pay for that service. To take the example of a solicitor working on standard forms of contract for a client, the constant reviewing of earlier advice for an indefinite period could place an intolerable burden on them/their firm and the costs of doing so might be extensive.