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I think the worrying thing about all of this is that the SDT have given their blessing to solicitors running their files in the same way!
Just make sure that you give a best stab guess on damages on the very first touch of the file (pluck any figure out of the air), get your client (before they do anything else and disappear) to sign a mandate giving you permission to issue proceedings and settle on best terms and you're then quids in.
This Judgment would then allow you to carry on regardless knowing that your client has disappeared to the far side of the moon (and won't be coming back) but you can still settle the claim and get paid for then not speaking to your client ever again.