Theodore Goddard negligence claim to go ahead

A High Court judge has ruled that a negligence claim brought against London law firm Theodore Goddard concerning a former office building in central London can proceed. Morgan J rejected the application by Theodore Goddard, which is now part of Addleshaw Goddard, to have the claim, which was  brought by the son of a now deceased client, determined summarily without the need for a full trial. In 1965, Alan Rind’s mother, Sylvia, became the freeholder of the Little Adelphi office building at 10-14 John Adam Street, London WC2. In 1985 and 1986, she received tax-planning advice from Theodore Goddard, following which she gifted the freehold of the property to the claimant. The property was accordingly transferred to Goddard Nominees (Jersey) (GN), which held the legal title as nominee for the claimant. In January 1989, GN sold the property for a “substantial sum” and the property was converted into 66 flats. Mrs Rind died in September 2000 and, by her will, left the residuary of her estate on trust for the claimant and his sister equally. The property was subsequently included within Mrs Rind’s estate for the purposes of calculating inheritance tax on the basis that, notwithstanding the fact that she had disposed of her freehold interest more than seven years before her death, the securing of charges on the property in 1988 and the proceeds of sale in 1989 and 1992 had been a “reservation of benefit” by Mrs Rind over the property. The claimant issued proceedings against Theodore Goddard, whereby he alleged that the inheritance tax liability had arisen by virtue of negligent estate-planning advice given to his mother. Theodore Goddard sought summary judgment of the claim on the basis that it did not owe a duty of care to the claimant in his capacity as a residuary beneficiary of the estate. Dismissing the application, Morgan J said that “the detailed facts and circumstances need to be investigated at a trial” because it may be open to a court to extend existing legal principles “so that the solicitor owed a duty of care not only to Mrs Rind but also to others who would be affected by ineffective estate planning”. Rind v Theodore Goddard (a firm) and others Chancery Division Morgan J 11 March 2008 Michael Soole QC (instructed by Dechert LLP) appeared for the claimant; Paul Parker (instructed by Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP) appeared for the first defendant; Edwin Johnson QC (instructed by Williams Holden Cooklin Gibbons LLP) appeared for the second to fourth defendants.