The High Court today ordered solicitor Rabin Leacock Lipman to pay damages of £11,576 in respect of negligent failure to secure new tenancies of business premises in London.
The claimant, Abraxas plc (formerly Abraxas Computer Services Ltd), a recruitment agency for computer and information technology professionals, held leases of three floors of office space at 357 Euston Road. In 1994, following expansion, it additionally took an underlease of part of the first floor of no 365 and engaged Rabin to handle the conveyancing.
In 1996 that underlease expired and Abraxas sued Rabin for negligence. The firm admitted that it had been negligent in failing, between June and October 1995, to make court applications for new tenancies under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, but it disputed the level of damages.
In reaching the figure of £11,576, the judge said he had worked on the basis of Abraxas having lost the chance of negotiating a better five-year rental, but not of obtaining a break clause.
Abraxas Computer Services Ltd v Rabin Leacock Lipman Queen Bench Division (Judge Richard Walker) 26 May 2000
PLS News 26/5/00
