A judge has warned that a firm could face a ‘potential claim’ for professional negligence for belatedly informing its client it had missed a deadline for an appeal. 

In Robert MacCallum v Secretary of State for Education, a teacher applied for an extension of time to file an appeal an indefinite prohibition order imposed by a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency. 

The teacher’s employer contacted JMW Solicitors on his behalf and sent initial instructions. The deadline for lodging an appeal was 15 December 2022. However, according to the High Court judgment, the teacher was not told until August 2023 that the appeal had not been lodged within the time limit.

New solicitors were instructed who filed an application for a time extension.

Mrs Justice Lang said: ‘JMW had ample opportunity to file a valid appeal in time. The cause of the delay was that JMW were not familiar with the procedure to be adopted. They did not take the trouble to contact the court well in advance for guidance, and to research the relevant guides.

‘They left it until the “last minute” to file the appeal, which then left them with insufficient time to correct their multiple mistakes in failing to prepare the appeal documentation correctly and failing to comply with the procedures for filing an appeal in the Administrative Court.’

The judge said the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of the case would impair the teacher’s right of access to the court, in breach of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Granting the application for an extension of time, the judge added: ‘The appellant has a potential claim against JMW for damages for professional negligence.

‘His employer is willing to continue to employ him for the duration of a two-year prohibition order, but cannot do so for as long as five years. Therefore he stands to lose his employment if he cannot successfully appeal.

‘An award of damages, which would have to be evaluated on a “loss of a chance” basis, would not adequately compensate the appellant for the inability to pursue his profession.’

 

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