The claimant alleged that her solicitors had concealed from her the fact that they had entered a consent order which dismissed her claim for medical negligence.
Held: The solicitor had failed to inform the client that her original claim against a doctor had been struck out although he was aware at the time that it was his duty to do so. The result was to postpone commencement of the limitation period against the claimant. The relationship of solicitor and client created a particular duty of disclosure.
Park J said: ‘ii) Although the concealed fact must have been relevant to the right of action, the paragraph does not say, and in my judgment does not require, that the defendant must have known that the fact was relevant to the right of action. In most cases where s.32(1)(b) applies the defendant probably will have known that the fact or facts which he concealed were relevant, but that is not essential. All that is essential is that the fact must actually have been relevant, whether the defendant knew that or not. The paragraph does of course require that the fact was one which the defendant knew, because otherwise he could not have concealed it. But it is not necessary in addition that the defendant knew that the fact was relevant to the claimant’s right of action. iv) The requirement is that the fact must be ‘deliberately concealed’. It is, I think, plain that, for concealment to be deliberate, the defendant must have considered whether to inform the claimant of the fact and decided not to. I would go further and accept that the fact which he decides not to disclose either must be one which it was his duty to disclose, or must at least be one which he would ordinarily have disclosed in the normal course of his relationship with the claimant, but in the case of which he consciously decided to depart from what he would normally have done and to keep quiet about it.’ Some of the claims succeeded and other failed.
Judges:
Mr Justice Brooke Lord Justice Mance Mr Justice Park
Citations:
[2004] EWCA Civ 157, Times 27-Feb-2004, Gazette 25-Mar-2004, [2004] PNLR 544, [2004] 1 WLR 3185
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Cave v Robinson Jarvis and Rolf (a Firm) HL 25-Apr-2002
An action for negligence against a solicitor was defended by saying that the claim was out of time. The claimant responded that the solicitor had not told him of the circumstances which would lead to the claim, and that deliberate concealment should . .
Cited – Sheldon and Others v R H M Outhwaite (Underwriting Agencies) Ltd and Others HL 5-May-1995
The limitation period did not run whilst relevant facts were deliberately concealed after the damage had been concealed. Section 32 could apply where the concealment of the relevant fact took place after the event as well as at the time of it. The . .
Cited by:
Cited – Newgate Stud Company, Newgate Stud Farm Llc v Penfold, Penfold Bloodstock Limited ChD 21-Dec-2004
The claimants sought damages from the defendant. He had been employed to manage their horse-racing activities, and it was alleged that he had made secret profits. The defendant denied any dishonesty, saying all matters were known to the deceased . .
Cited – Taylor Aston Ltd v AON Ltd ComC 26-Jul-2005
The parties entered into a contract to support attempts to provide insurance in Khazakstan. The defendants argued limitation, the claimants argued for concealment.
Held: Deliberate concealment for limitation purposes meant just that. That had . .
Cited – Mortgage Express v Abensons Solicitors (A Firm) ChD 20-Apr-2012
The claimant lender sought damages against the defendant solicitors alleging negligence and breach of fiduciary duty by them in acting for them on mortgage advances. The defendants now argued that the allowance of an amendment to add the allegation . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Limitation, Professional Negligence
Updated: 09 June 2022; Ref: scu.193640