Hilton v Barker Booth and Eastwood (a firm)

[2005] EWHL 8, 3 February 2005. Considered what duty of care a solicitor owed both parties in a property transaction where the solicitor had acted for both parties. Following an appeal by the appellant (H) against a decision ([2002] EWCA Civ 723, The Times 6 June 2002) dismissing his claim for damages against B for breach of their contractual duty. H retained B in connection with his business as a developer but in this case it had acted in the past for a purchaser of one of H's developments and knew of his previous fraud convictions. H's business collapsed following the failure to complete the sale and H brought proceedings against B. The judge found that B was only negligent in continuing to act for both parties. "Held": the appeal was allowed. B should have informed H that it could not act for him in this transaction and to advise him to seek legal advice from other solicitors and not rely on any advice already given by B. B was right not to have disclosed their client's past but the fact that it had put itself in an impossible situation did not exonerate it from liability.