Professional Negligence Mediation in Devon and Cornwall

Professional negligence claims — against solicitors, architects, surveyors and other professionals — are often complex, document-heavy and expensive to litigate. Mediation provides a confidential forum in which both sides can engage frankly with the real issues and reach a negotiated settlement.

Claims Laurence mediates

Laurence mediates professional negligence claims against solicitors (including conveyancing errors, missed limitation periods, failure to advise on risk and the negligent handling of litigation), architects and designers (defective design, specification failures, planning and building control problems), surveyors and valuers (negligent valuations, defects missed on survey, inadequate schedules of condition), and accountants, agents and other professionals whose advice or work has fallen below the standard reasonably expected.

Why these cases suit mediation

Professional negligence claims carry unusual uncertainty. Breach, causation and loss are each separately contested, and a claimant who succeeds on breach may still recover nothing if causation fails. Both sides typically face a wide range of possible outcomes and a costs exposure that can exceed the value of the claim itself. That combination — genuine uncertainty on both sides and a disproportionate costs risk — is precisely the territory in which mediation works best.

The role of the insurer

Almost all professional negligence claims are met by professional indemnity insurers, and that changes the shape of the negotiation. The person with authority to settle is often not the professional whose work is being criticised, and the professional may have strong feelings about their reputation that the insurer does not share. It matters that whoever holds authority is present or immediately contactable, and that the excess and any policy limits are understood before the day.

What a settlement can include

A judgment can award damages and costs. A mediated settlement can do considerably more — a reduction or write-off of outstanding fees, an agreed form of words acknowledging what went wrong, confidentiality, the completion of outstanding work, or an apportionment between several professionals who each bear part of the responsibility. In claims where reputation matters as much as money, that flexibility is often what unlocks the settlement.

Laurence's background

Over more than 25 years as a litigation solicitor, Laurence has both brought and defended claims against professionals. He understands the standard of care expected, the difficulty of proving causation, the way these claims are valued and reserved, and the commercial logic insurers apply. He is comfortable testing a claimant's case on causation and a defendant's case on breach, which is usually what both parties need before either can move.