*Kandola v Mirza Solicitors LLP

Solicitor – Solicitor and client. The claimant sought damages against the defendant firm of solicitors, which had acted for him in the proposed purchase of a property in 2010. The proposed vendor did not complete and was subsequently made bankrupt, and the claimant lost his deposit. The claimant submitted that, having advised of the risk of insolvency, the solicitor who had advised him had had a duty to take steps to explore the extent of that risk, by making searches that would have revealed the existence of the bankruptcy petition. The Chancery Division, in dismissing the claim, held that the solicitor had not been under any duty to make the suggested searches prior to exchange of contracts. The risks had been adequately explained to a person of the claimant's experience and he had, in fact, understood the advice he had been given.