Baird, Heather v Stephen W R Hastings t/as Hastings & Co Solicitors
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Weatherup J |
| Judgment Date | 29 May 2014 |
| Neutral Citation | [2014] NIQB 77 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 29 May 2014 |
| Year | 2014 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2014] NIQB 77 Ref:
WEA9301
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
29/05/2014
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (COMMERCIAL)
________
HEATHER BAIRD
Plaintiff
v
STEPHEN W R HASTINGS t/as HASTINGS & Co, SOLICITORS
Defendant
________
Judgment on damages
-------------------------
WEATHERUP J
[1] I gave judgment on liability under neutral citation [2013] NIQB 143 and the
matter has returned for the assessment of damages. Mr McNulty QC appeared for
the plaintiff and Mr Good QC for the defendant.
[2] The background is set out in the liability judgment but in essence I found the
defendant solicitor liable to the plaintiff purchaser in respect of a transaction that
was planned in 2007 whereby the plaintiff and her husband wished to sell their
property in Ballymoney and buy two other properties, one in Castlerock for their son
and one in Ballymoney for themselves. The Ballymoney property did not sell and
the plaintiff remains in residence. The Castlerock property was purchased for the
plaintiff’s son. The findings against the defendant solicitor appear at paragraphs 33
and 34 of the judgment where it was stated that there were certain risks arising out
of the proposed transaction. One such risk was the Ballymoney property not selling
within the period of the bridging loan or at all. Another risk was the death of the
plaintiff’s husband who was the income provider and who serviced the bridging
finance. The conclusion was that the defendant was in breach of duty in failing to
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1 cases
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EDEN (NI) Limited and Mallaghan Engineering Limited v Mills Selig, A Firm
...in Melbourne Mortgages Limited v Carson and McDowell, A Firm [2004] NIQB 82 and to the judgment of Weatherup J in Baird v Hastings [2014] NIQB 77. [99] A solicitor in this capacity is acting as an agent of his principal, his client. Bowstead and Reynolds on Agency, 20th Edition paragraph 6-......