Solicitors PI: Illegality And Vicarious Liability

In a case last month, a claim against solicitors failed on the basis of the illegality defence. The judge found that the payment that the claimants were seeking to recover had been intended by them to be a bribe and that they could not rely upon their own illegal or immoral conduct to recover compensation.

The case also raised a number of other issues:

• the circumstances in which a firm may be vicariously liable for the actions of its employees in circumstances where – as here – the employee, although a solicitor, was primarily concerned with marketing and business development and acted as a "deal maker";
• whether, notwithstanding the absence of a solicitor/client relationship, the employee may nevertheless owe a personal duty of care;