Professional Negligence Claims

Our experienced, friendly lawyers can assist you with:

• Incorrect financial advice (tax-related advice, poorly conducted audits, poor financial analysis)
• Negligent legal advice from lawyers (not acting in your best interest or against your instructions, badly drawn contracts, failure to make critical decisions
• Unsatisfactory service from a financial advisor or accountant who causes you to lose money.

In Australia professionals are required to carry out their services with reasonable care, skill and competence. If they fall short of this standard, and you suffer harm or loss as a result, you may have a legal right to bring a claim for professional negligence.

Broadly speaking, a “professional” is someone whose occupation involves prolonged training and formal qualification. Professionals can include:

• Accountants
• Architects
• Builders and Tradespeople
• Engineers
• Financial advisors
• Lawyers and legal practitioners
• Medical and health practitioners
• Real estate agents
• Surveyors

Before perusing a claim of professional negligence you should seek independent legal advice. Negligence cases can be complex and your ability to bring a successful claim will depend on several factors including whether the professional owed you a duty of care, the nature of the negligent act, how long ago the act occurred and if you contributed to the harm or loss suffered.

Merely being dissatisfied with the service provided or outcome reached by a professional does not necessarily mean they have acted negligently. In order to prove negligence a professional must have failed in their duty to provide their expert services with reasonable care and skill. You may be able to peruse a claim if your professional:

• Provides poor or incorrect advice;
• Fails to act in accordance with your proper and lawful instructions;
• Discloses or mishandles confidential information;
• Acts dishonestly or fraudulently; or
• Misses important deadlines.

The time for bringing a claim for professional negligence can vary depending on the loss or damage suffered and the applicable legislation in your state or territory. In Victoria, a claim for professional negligence must usually be commenced within 6 years of the date you suffered loss and damage occurring as a result of any breach of duty of care owed to you.

If the negligent act results in personal injury, the action must be commenced within 3 years.

In certain circumstances, deadlines can be extended. We recommend seeking professional legal advice if you are unsure about how much time you have to lodge your claim.