Professional negligence 

Accountants and Auditors

William acts in complex and large-scale claims against auditors and accountants. His recent experience includes advising in the defence of a £20m claim against auditors for alleged failure to report fraud, and a £5m claim against auditors in relation to the sale of a national chain of retailers.

Insurance Brokers

William's recent work involving insurance brokers includes acting in the defence of a £4.6m claim for alleged failure to advise of a burglar alarm warranty, and a £500,000 claim for alleged failure to advise on the correct amount of cover for business interruption, both of which settled shortly before trial. In this area William additionally benefits from his substantial experience of dealing with insurance coverage disputes between insured and insurer.

Financial Professionals

William is active in this area of work and has recently acted for financial advisors in a 14-party claim under the Financial Services and Markets Act and at common law, listed for a 4 week trial before it settled, and a £500,000 claim against financial advisors in relation to their alleged promotion of an investment bond which failed.

Lawyers

William regularly advises and appears in high value and complex claims against lawyers, often involving mediation. He is co-author of the leading text, Solicitors' Negligence and Liability, Flenley & Leech (2nd ed., 2008; new edition in preparation), and contributes to Cordery on Legal Services. From 2007 until 2010 was co-chair of the Professional Negligence Bar Association's annual Lawyers' Liability Day, an event at which he is due to speak in 2011. He recently appeared in Nationwide BS v Dunlop Haywards [2010] 1 WLR 258, one of the first reported cases in the current round of lenders' claims against solicitors and valuers, and in reported cases in the Court of Appeal: Pickthall v Hill Dickinson [2009] PNLR 10 and Webster v Sandersons Solicitors [2009] PNLR 37. He also deals with regulatory and disciplinary proceedings against lawyers.

Surveyors and Valuers

William is very familiar with claims against surveyors and valuers, including mortgage lenders' and contribution claims. He wrote the discussion of Saamco in Professional Negligence and Liability (ed.Simpson). More recently, in Nationwide BS v Dunlop Haywards [2010] 1 WLR 258, a lenders' claim, he obtained an order that fraudulent surveyors pay contribution of £4.5m. He also acts in claims by purchasers against surveyors, and recently represented surveyors in a complex case as to whether purchasers should give credit for improvements to their property after the date of the surveyors' negligence.