Solicitors: Duty to Advise in Litigation - Appeal Upheld

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal have allowed Levicom's appeal of the first instance judgment in their £37 million loss of chance claim against Linklaters.

The case stems from advice given by Linklaters to Levicom relating to a dispute with a Swedish telecoms group. Levicom alleged that, had Linklaters not given negligently over-optimistic advice, it would have settled its dispute at a much earlier stage, on more favourable terms, rather than embarking upon arbitration that settled on unsatisfactory terms.

Although the judge at first instance found that Linklaters' advice was negligent in certain respects, he held that that negligence caused no loss to Levicom. He did not accept that Levicom would have entered into an earlier and more favourable settlement had it received "proper advice", i.e. that it would not have acted differently had Linklaters' advice been more pessimistic. Levicom was, therefore, awarded nominal damages of £5.