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Claim Types — Solicitor Negligence
You paid a solicitor to protect your interests. They were the expert in the room — you were relying on them completely. If their mistake cost you a case, a property, a settlement, or money you cannot get back, discovering that feels like a second betrayal on top of the original harm.
Solicitor negligence claims are a recognised area of Australian law. The fact that your former lawyer made the mistake does not make your situation hopeless — it makes it a legal matter in its own right. Fair Go Australia works exclusively on professional negligence cases, and we can assess your situation at no charge and on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Solicitor negligence occurs when a solicitor fails to meet the standard of care expected of a reasonably competent lawyer practising in the same field, and that failure directly causes the client measurable loss. The solicitor-client relationship creates a duty of care in law. When that duty is breached, the solicitor may be liable for the consequences.
The High Court in Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479 established the foundational framework for professional duty of care in Australia. The standard is not perfection — it is competence. A solicitor does not need to achieve the best possible outcome. They do need to exercise the skill and care that the situation reasonably demands, and to keep their client properly informed throughout.
Each state and territory has its own Civil Liability legislation — the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), the Civil Liability Act 2003 (QLD), the Wrongs Act 1958 (VIC), and their equivalents — but the core legal test is consistent across Australia: duty, breach, causation, and quantifiable loss.
Solicitor negligence takes many forms. These are the situations we encounter most often.
Most people who come to us are not sure whether what happened to them crosses the legal threshold. That is entirely normal — assessing negligence is what specialist lawyers do. But there are four questions worth asking yourself before you speak to us.
If you retained and paid a solicitor to act on your behalf, the duty of care exists almost automatically. A retainer agreement is the clearest evidence, but ongoing correspondence and invoices can establish the relationship too.
The question is not whether another solicitor might have done better — it is whether a reasonably competent practitioner in that area of law would have made the same error. Specialist expert evidence is typically used to establish this.
Australian courts apply a “but for” test on causation — but for the solicitor’s error, would you have avoided the loss? Where the underlying claim’s value must be assessed (for example, a missed limitation period), courts apply the “loss of a chance” doctrine to calculate what the client was deprived of.
Negligence claims require financial loss. This might be the value of a case that was lost, money spent on rectifying the error, a property transaction that went wrong, or costs that should never have been incurred. You do not need to calculate this yourself — that is part of what the evaluation covers.
You do not need to have confident answers to all four questions before contacting us. Our job is to work through this with you — at no charge and with no obligation to proceed.
The process does not need to be complicated — but it does need to be methodical. Here is what it looks like in practice.
The aim of damages in a negligence claim is to put you in the position you would have been in had the solicitor not been negligent. In practice, that means the court looks at what you lost — not as a punishment to the solicitor, but as a measure of the harm their error caused you.
This is the primary head of damage. It includes the value of the underlying claim you lost (for example, the damages you should have recovered if the limitation period had not been missed), wasted legal costs, and any money paid to rectify the solicitor’s error.
Losses that flow directly from the negligence — additional legal fees incurred to fix the problem, loss of a property transaction, tax penalties arising from incorrect advice, or other downstream financial consequences — may also be recoverable.
Non-economic loss can be claimed in some circumstances, but it is subject to caps under the Civil Liability Acts in most states. In pure financial negligence matters the courts take a conservative approach, so this head of damage tends to be secondary. Australian courts have awarded damages that properly reflect the lost value of the underlying claim — the “loss of a chance” doctrine means the court assesses the realistic value of what the solicitor’s error deprived you of.
One important practical point: most solicitors are required to hold professional indemnity insurance under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (applicable in NSW and VIC) and equivalent legislation in other states. This means a successful claim is almost always backed by an insurer — which affects how negotiations and proceedings unfold.
Act before time runs out. In most Australian states, professional negligence claims — including solicitor negligence claims — must be commenced within 3 years from the date you became aware (or should reasonably have become aware) of the negligence. In some states the general limitation period is 6 years from the date of the act or omission. Missing this deadline can permanently extinguish your right to claim. If you are unsure whether your limitation period has already started running, contact our team for a free assessment as soon as possible.
One nuance worth knowing: where a solicitor missed a limitation period in your underlying matter, the clock on the negligence claim itself runs from when you discovered (or ought to have discovered) the error — not from when the underlying deadline passed. Many clients assume the window has already closed when it has not. Do not rule out a claim before speaking to a specialist.
Not every negligence lawyer understands the legal profession’s own standards — which is exactly what you need someone to understand when your former solicitor is the respondent.
Our team handles solicitor negligence claims on a no-win, no-fee basis — so there is no financial cost to getting a proper assessment. Everything you tell us is strictly confidential, and we respond within one business day.
Take the first step. It costs nothing, and it may be the most important call you make.
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Common questions
Yes. Solicitor negligence is a well-established area of Australian law. If you had a solicitor-client relationship, the solicitor’s conduct fell below the standard of a competent practitioner, that conduct caused you measurable loss, and the loss can be quantified, you may have a viable claim. The best first step is a specialist assessment — at Fair Go Australia, this is free and carries no obligation to proceed.
A solicitor is required to exercise the care, skill, and diligence of a reasonably competent solicitor practising in the same field. The High Court in Rogers v Whitaker (1992) established the framework. The standard is not perfection — it is professional competence. Where a solicitor holds themselves out as a specialist (for example, in conveyancing or litigation), the standard is assessed at that specialist level.
Almost certainly worth investigating. Missing a limitation period is one of the most serious forms of solicitor negligence, because the consequence — permanent loss of your right to sue — cannot be undone. Courts assess what your underlying claim was worth and award damages reflecting the loss of that chance. Even if your underlying claim was not certain to succeed, you may still recover a significant proportion of its value.
Possibly, yes. If your solicitor failed to advise you adequately about the prospects of your case, the risks of settlement, or the terms of what you were agreeing to, and you accepted a settlement that was materially lower than you should have received, that may constitute negligence. These claims require careful analysis of the advice given and the settlement’s reasonableness in context — which is exactly what our evaluation covers.
A Law Society or Legal Services Commissioner complaint is a disciplinary process. It can result in the solicitor being reprimanded, fined, suspended, or struck off — but it cannot award you financial compensation. A civil negligence claim is a separate legal action through the courts that seeks to recover your loss. The two processes are independent of one another and can run at the same time. If financial recovery is your goal, a civil claim is the appropriate pathway.
Fair Go Australia handles solicitor negligence claims on a no-win, no-fee basis. You pay nothing upfront. Our fee is contingent on a successful outcome — if the claim does not succeed, you do not pay our professional fees. There may be disbursements (costs such as expert reports or court filing fees), and these are discussed transparently with you before any commitment is made. The initial case evaluation is completely free.
Our goal is to help people in the best way possible. this is a basic principle in every case and cause for success. contact us today for a free consultation.
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