A recent Commercial Court case considered a solicitor's duty
to advise on a client's prospects in litigation. In liability
terms, the duty is two-fold: to formulate a non-negligent view on
the merits and to convey this view properly to the client. The case
also demonstrated that, if negligent, a solicitor will not be
liable if the client would not have acted differently even if
properly advised.
A Baltic telecoms group, Levicom, instructed Linklaters to act
in a contractual dispute with a Swedish telecoms group in 2000.
Linklaters advised on settlement proposals as well as the merits of
Levicom's case more generally in early 2001. On Linklaters'
advice, no settlement was agreed and arbitration proceedings were
commenced, which were eventually settled on terms unsatisfactory to
the client in June 2004. Levicom sued Linklaters, alleging that it
had given over-optimistic advice on the prospects of its case in
two letters in January 2001 and March 2001, and that it
