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United Kingdom Leading Case professional negligencepure economic lossduty of care

White v Jones

[1995] 2 AC 207
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
CourtUK House of Lords
Year1995
StatusBinding authority

Summary

A solicitor who negligently fails to prepare a will owes a duty of care to intended beneficiaries based on assumption of responsibility, even absent a contractual relationship.

Key Principle

solicitor owes duty to intended beneficiary of a will; assumption of responsibility

Area of Law

Tort — Professional Negligence

Related Cases

Khan v Meadows [2021] UKSC 21

UKSC refined the SAAMCO scope-of-duty principle and established a six-stage framework for determining recoverable loss in professional negligence claims.

BPE Solicitors v Hughes-Holland [2017] UKSC 21

SAAMCO principle confirmed: a professional giving 'information' is only liable for losses attributable to that information being wrong, not all losses flowing from the transaction.

Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11

A doctor must disclose material risks that a reasonable patient in their position would consider significant, replacing the Bolam test for informed consent.

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