Successful compensation claim is made following a solicitor’s mistake
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This is a case study of a successful compensation claim made on behalf of a client who lost out as a result of her solicitor’s mistake.
Our client, S, had been an employee of a local council when it transpired that she and her female colleagues were not being paid the same rate of pay as their male colleagues undertaking comparative works. An equal pay, group action claim commenced with the affected women instructing a single firm of solicitors.
At the relevant time, the law was that a complaint needed to be made to the employer and then 28 days had to pass from the date of the grievance before court proceedings could be issued. Unfortunately, the solicitors issued the claim a day too early and it wasn’t until the group action was well advanced before the defendant noticed. S’ claim was dismissed. The remaining women went on and were successful in their claims.
S consulted us about claiming compensation for her solicitor’s mistake. On looking at the file from the solicitors, it became apparent that when the firm realised that they had made an error they had tried to remedy it. They claimed that they sent a further claim form to the Employment Tribunal, but they failed to follow this up and so a rectification claim was not actually issued.
A claim was therefore brought against the solicitors for their obvious negligence. Fairly early on, they admitted that they had made a mistake, but despite this admission, they then went on to try all sorts of defence. Firstly, the alleged rectification claim; then that S could have issued in the civil courts (you can’t – not with a discrimination claim); that S could have re-issued in the employment tribunal when the defendants pointed out the error (she couldn’t as she would have been out of time); and then challenging the damages she would have been entitled to, despite there being clear evidence that S was part of a group of women who would have received a specified sum of money.
We pressed on with the claim and the matter and this resulted in an award of compensation being made to our client for her solicitor’s mistake.
