Describe about the contract law and its application.
The law that manages and rules the different elements associated with written and oral agreements like providing services and goods, properties and monetary transaction is Contract law (Inbrief, 2013). In case of the mentioned scenario, it can be noticed that, Henrietta, in order to prevent a former male friend from visiting her and creating nuisance she seeks the help of a firm of solicitors. But the firm provided her with a litigation clerk who lacked the required qualification to deal with her case. Under such a situation the question lies on whether she can take any legal actions against the firm for the negligence while providing the services to her and if she can make a claim against the firm what are the claims that she can make along with the legal actions that may be taken by her.
As it can be seen from the provided circumstance, she engaged a firm of solicitors to handle her case, but the terms and conditions of the contract were not clearly stated. This cannot ignore the fact that there was a transaction between both the parties, i.e. Henrietta had paid to the firm to gain their services. This makes it evident that a contract had taken place between the two parties as fee was received by the firm in exchange of their services. On the basis of the formation of the contract it is evident that an implied in-fact contract had taken place between Henrietta and the firm of solicitors. The fact that, though the terms of the agreement were not transparent at the time of formation of the agreement yet there was a mutual agreement regarding the intention of the agreement that occurred by the firm’s acceptance of the fee as offered by Henrietta makes this an implied in-fact contract. The behavior of both the parties makes it evident that an implied in-fact contract had taken place. In other words, in case of the provided scenario it can be noticed that the important elements of a contract are present i.e. an offer was made by a party which was followed by its acceptance, there was an element of consideration, which in this case was the service provided by the firm, both the parties were mentally fit and capable to enter in a contract at the time of formation of the agreement, there was the intention on the side of offeror as well as offeree to entre in a legal relation (Mandery, 2014). Thus it is obvious that when two parties are involved in a contract, they have to abide by the terms and conditions of the agreement. In this case, the firm of solicitors is liable to Henrietta as they are bound by the agreement according to, in exchange of the fee received from her they were supposed to provide with the best of services which they failed to do.
Under such a situation, she can make claims or take legal contracts against the firm for the breach of contract law. The legal claims can be made by her on number of grounds, some the mentionable grounds are- economic loss and suffering, mental distress and upset along with unjust enrichment. Most importantly, professional negligence occurred on the part of the firm of solicitors in the mentioned case. The reason behind being the fact that, in spite of providing her with qualified, efficient solicitor to her in order to deal her case, the firm provided her with unqualified litigation clerk who was not effective and efficient enough to handle the case effectually. In such a situation before the whole circumstance turns more complicated, she can approach Legal Ombudsman. The organization is responsible for dealing with complaints that arises on the part of the clients against solicitors. In such cases, if Legal Ombudsman finds out that the client was provided with insufficient and ineffective services then the organization can help the client in receiving a compensation amount. If the client is not happy with the amount of compensation amount the she can move to take action for professional negligence. Henrietta can also ask for claim on the basis of breach of Duty of care (Glovers, 2014). It was the duty of the of the firm of solicitors in accordance to the contract between both the parties to provide her with professionals who possess expertise in the particular field and provide her with effective advise which was absent in this. As it can be seen that the firm provided her with an unqualified litigation clerk who was not capable enough to deal her case and provide her with effective advise. As a result of which of which breach of duty of care occurred this enables her to take action against the firm of solicitors. Other than that, as already mentioned she can ask claims form the firm of solicitors on the basis of the loss that she had to face because of them. She can emphasize on the fact that due to the misguiding and negligent behavior on the part of the firm she had to face mental trauma, distress along with financial loss on the basis of which as well Henrietta can ask for the claim. In this particular case she can also emphasize on the fact that unjust enrichment occurred in case of the firm (Furmston, Cheshire and Fifoot, 2007). The reason being the fact, that the fee that was paid by Henrietta in the expectation of the service that was promised or committed to her was not performed. Thus the firm was having financial gain or enrichment at the cost of the fee that they received from her. This also makes them liable to pay the compensation amount to her. Other than that, the firm is vicariously liable to Henrietta. The reason behind this being the fact, that it is the duty of any firm to appoint efficient employees and provide the plaintiff with effective services of those efficient employees. In case of any kind of negligence, incapability or loss caused by the employee of the company, the organization becomes liable to the plaintiff. In this case as well, it can be noticed that because of the incapable employee of the firm, Henrietta had to face financial loss, mental trauma etc. Thus the incapability on the part of the employee of the firm to perform his or her duty effectively and the losses that Henrietta faced because of it also makes the company vicariously liable to her.
On the basis of the above discussion it can be noticed that number of aspects that are associated with the formation of a contract and involved with contract law have been breached by the firm of solicitors that makes the company liable to Henrietta and she can ask for claims from the firm because of the loss and the issue that she had to face when she was taking service from them. Once the accusation mentioned by her turns out to be correct and proved in the court then the firm will have to pay the claim amount or compensation amount for the damage caused to her (Botterell, 2010). In this regard it is important to mention that, while demanding compensation it is essential for the claim seeker which in this case is Henrietta needs to have clear and detailed understanding of the difference negligence and misconduct. It can be mentioned here that, when on the part of the professionals there exists negligent or ignorant behavior it can taken under negligence (Burnett, 2011). While, when the professional willfully do not abide by the regulations or purpose of the agreement it comes under misconduct. Thus once it is proved that professional negligence has been committed by the firm of solicitors against Henrietta, in that case the legal avenues that are opened to her for exploring are- compensation for the loss and suffering, professional disciplinary hearing, public as well as private enquiries, professional misconduct and incompetence. In this regard it can be mentioned here that, negligence claims is associated with a time limit. Generally, the time limit starts with the date of negligence. With the help of the above mentioned aspects of contract law and its breach, Henrietta can attain the compensation amount or the amount of claim.
Conclusion
In the conclusion it can be stated that contractual law protects every dimension of any contract and in case of any form of breach of the law, sufficient actions can be taken against the party who breaches the law. As in this case it can be noticed that, the firm acted in a negligent manner, which is Henrietta proves successfully in the court can receive the compensation amount. In this regard it can be mentioned that a negligent solicitor can cost the valuable time and money of the clients, along with it such complications may be created because of it that would require legal help in to solve it. In general, professional negligence claim can be demanded by a client, if due to the negligent behavior of the professional the client had to face economic loss (Canter-law, 2014).
References
Botterell, A. (2010). CONTRACTUAL PERFORMANCE, CORRECTIVE JUSTICE, AND DISGORGEMENT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT. Legal Theory, 16(03), pp.135-160.
Burnett, R. (2011). Commercial litigation. London: Thorogood Publishing Ltd.
Canter-law.co.uk. (2014). Solicitors in Liverpool for Over 60 Years – Canter Levin & Berg.
Furmston, M., Cheshire, G. and Fifoot, C. (2007). Cheshire, Fifoot and Furmston’s Law of contract.
Glovers.co.uk. (2014). Solicitors London UK | Welcome to Glovers Solicitors LLP.
Inbrief.co.uk. (2013). In Brief: The Free Legal Information Site.
Mandery, M. (2014). Party Autonomy in Contractual and Non-Contractual
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