Valuing Bungled Litigation, Edwards v Hugh James Ford Simey

The broad principles as to how to value what has been lost from bungled litigation have been established for a long time. In assessing what the claimant has lost through his lawyers' negligence, most commonly in failing to issue a claim within the limitation period, the court does not attempt to try the original case. Instead, it values the claimant's lost chose in action. Thus, for instance, suppose he had a 50% chance of obtaining £100,000, then (depending on the circumstances) he will be awarded about £50,000 damages in the professional negligence action. The Court will also attempt to set a notional trial or settlement date, value the claim as at that date, and award interest on it from then until trial in the professional negligence action.