Pinnock v Wilkins & Sons
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 23 January 1990 |
| Date | 23 January 1990 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Fox, Lord Justice Ralph Gibson and Lord Justice Nicholls
Interest - rate - breach of duty - damages
The judgment debt rate was appropriate for awarding interest on damages for breach of duty by a plaintiff's solicitors.
The Court of Appeal so held (Lord Justice Ralph Gibson dissenting) in a reserved judgment dismissing an appeal by the defendant solicitors, Wilkins & Son, of Aylesbury, against an award of £79,807 by Mr Justice Sheen for breach of duty owed by the defendants to the plaintiff, Mr Ian Henry Pinnock, of Kings Head Passage, Temple Street, Aylesbury.
Mr Iain Hughes for the defendants; Mr Richard Gibbs, QC and Mr Richard Woodhouse for the plaintiff.
LORD JUSTICE RALPH GIBSON said that the main contentions of the defendants were that the judge awarded too much in respect future loss of earnings and "disadvantage on the labour market" and awarded interest at a rate which was too high.
The plaintiff's claim arose out of a traffic accident in September 1978 in which the plaintiff was injured. He was nearly 19 at the time of the accident and nearly 29 on the hearing of the appeal. The accident was solely the fault of a motor-cyclist, Mr Anscombe.
The plaintiff instructed the defendants to advise and act for him in his claim for damages. The defendants issued a writ in 1979. The claim was made and negotiations were conducted with the insurers of Mr Anscombe. The defendants hoped to settle the claim but failed to serve the writ in due time and the plaintiff lost his right of action against Mr Anscombe.
After the action was started and medical reports were obtained in 1980 and 1982, there was no contact between the plaintiff and the defendants until 1985. The defendants wrote letters to the plaintiff in 1983 and 1984, mentioning that the claim was statute-barred, but he did not receive them.
In January 1985 the plaintiff went to see the defendants and was then advised to go to other solicitors which he did.
His present solicitors, whom he instructed in January 1985, promptly informed the defendants. Thereafter the claim against the defendants proceeded but with no great speed. A writ was served in December 1985. The defendants admitted liability.
In 1987 the plaintiff by his solicitors asked for an interim payment of £10,000, which the defendants paid. The trial commenced on January 23, 1989.
The parties exchanged schedules in which their contentions were set out as to the various items...
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Persimmon Homes (South Coast) Ltd v Hall Aggregates (South Coast) Ltd and Another
...the CPR there were three reported case in which Judgments Act interest had been awarded. The first was ( Pinnock v Wilkins and Sons The Times, 29 January 1990) where a claimant recovered damages against solicitors for negligence in mishandling personal injuries litigation and the trial judg......
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Claymore Services Ltd v Nautilus Properties Ltd
...be a relevant consideration. 65 Ms Ansell had cited two cases in which the court awarded interest at Judgment Act rates. These are Pinnock v Wilkins & Sons Times Law Reports 29 th January 1990 and Watts v Morrow [1991] 1 WLR 1421. In Pinnock the plaintiff suffered injuries in a road traffi......
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...Bank v Hett, Stubbs & Kemp [1979] Ch 384 Navig8 Inc v South Vigour Shipping Inc [2015] EWHC 32 (Comm) Pinnock v Wilkins & Sons The Times, 29 January 1990 Perry v Raleys Solicitors [2019] UKSC 5, [2020] AC 352, and [2017] EWCA Civ 314 Redbourn Group Ltd v Fairgate Developments Ltd [201......
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...of negligent solicitors or surveyors, particularly in cases where the award is made many years after the loss was incurred: see Pinnock v Wilkins & Son (CA transcript, 29.01.90); Watts v Morrow [1991] 1 WLR 1421, at 1443H – 1444C and 1446A — B and 1446E; Hamilton-Jones v David & Shane [20......
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