Professional negligence proceedings against lawyers dating back more than six years have been struck out by the High Court over disclosure failures by a solicitor accused of a 'Whac-a-Mole' approach to filing.  

In Morris v Knights Professional Services, His Honour Judge Davis-White KC struck out a claim brought against four defendants by Philip Morris, a qualified solicitor, over allegedly negligent advice in the £16 million sale of shares in a residential care home in 2006. Morris was represented by his nephew, David Morris of Newcastle Upon Tyne firm Morris Law Limited. 

A trial had been due to begin in May this year after proceedings began in 2019. However in April last year, the claimants were served with an 'unless' order following repeated failures to complete a compliant trial bundle.

In an earlier hearing, according to the strike-out judgment, David Morris had been accused of creating a 'Whac-a-Mole' approach to disclosure by providing documents before the start of each day. 'There is some force in the description,' Davis-White observed. 

The judgment states that, despite last April's order requiring bundles to be completed by August, Morris sent his in October only following 'increasingly desperate emails from the defendants' solicitors'. The bundle did not comply with the Chancery Guide. A hearing due in November was adjourned. 

Ruling on an application seeking an extension of time, the judge found that the claimant had made 'serious and significant' breaches of the April order through defective disclosure, a defective list of documents and defective production of documents. Explanations for the shortcomings were 'either non-existent or unsatisfactory'. 

Dismissing an application for relief of sanctions, the judge said the proceedings are struck out. A date currently set for pre-trial review of the claim will now deal with consequentials.