Risk management

Joint instructions

A common cause for notifications being made against a solicitor's professional indemnity insurance is when joint instruction is given.

That is when a client is being advised either by another professional - for example, an accountant or surveyor - or when two different departments within a firm are advising on separate issues.

Indeed, the definition can also apply when a practice has overseas offices and departments in different countries which are acting for the same client on the same project.

Although it may seem unfair, often all parties concerned will be held partly responsible if one party is negligent when working on joint projects.

When working in conjunction with either another professional firm or another department or office within the solicitor's practice, it is important to establish proper working guidelines at the outset.

Clear parameters need to be drawn so that each party knows exactly which job is being embarked on and by which team.

It is important that regular meetings are held between all parties to ensure that everyone knows exactly what the other party is doing and what progress has already been made.

All too often the professionals are dependent on the client for information as to how other areas of the work are progressing.

This is caused by the fact that the client, while having numerous meetings with each party, will most probably be seeing all parties separately.

This can lead to many problems, mainly because, more often than not, the client does not fully understand what each party is doing or has already completed.

It is far better to arrange meetings, whenever possible, for all parties and the client together, this way everyone knows what the other is doing and also what stage the work is currently at.

Diary dates and deadlines form another area which tends to be a big cause of problems when work is split between teams, offices or professions.

It is imperative that all parties are fully aware of deadlines and important dates with regard to the work being undertaken.

Often different deadlines impact on the other areas of work, and the fact that another party forgot to inform you that a deadline had been brought forward may not be enough to stave off a claim of negligence.

The simplest way to work with other parties, teams or offices is to ensure you have solid risk management procedures in place.

If all key dates are noted, actions completed by due dates, all files are kept fully up to date and regular meetings are held, then the chance of your practice being held partly responsible if another party is negligent, will be minimal.

This column was prepared by the Alexander Forbes

Professions risk management team