Mowlem loses appeal against CSW solicitor

Mowlem has lost its appeal against a court decision made last November that stopped it from suing a subcontractor's firm
of solicitors.
Mowlem's original case contended that Neil F Jones and Co, the solicitor acting for Commissioning South West (CSW), should have advised its client to notify its professional indemnity insurer of a threatened claim by Mowlem.
Jones and Co's failure to advise its client in time meant CSW's insurer was able to avoid liability for the claim.
A dispute arose between Mowlem and CSW on a Ministry of Defence office scheme in Bristol in 1994. Three years later, CSW claimed it was owed £150,000; Mowlem countered that it had overpaid CSW by £100,000 and would settle the claim for £20,000.
Mowlem won the ensuing arbitration, being awarded £1m in damages and costs. However, CSW failed to inform its insurer of Mowlem's claim in time and thus the insurer was not liable. Mowlem has never recovered what it was owed by CSW, which has since
been liquidated.
Mowlem subsequently tried to chase Jones and Co for the money, but in November last year Judge Richard Havery QC ruled that the firm was not liable.
He said at the time: "I conclude that the failure on the part of the defendant to advise CSW about its insurance cover, in circumstances where there were no express instructions to give such advice, is something that a reasonably competent practitioner, adopting the standards normally adopted in his profession, could have done. Thus I dismiss
the claim."
Mowlem continued its claim in the Court of Appeal, but Lord Justice Tuckey said: "The solicitor was not retained to advise about insurance by its client, who was perfectly competent to deal with such matters."
The original ruling was upheld.