header-logo header-logo

06 March 2026 / Robert Hargreaves
Issue: 8152 / Categories: Features , Professional negligence , Liability
printer mail-detail

Case review: a watershed in negligence law

243957
As part of an occasional series on the practical impact of recent landmark judgments, Robert Hargreaves reflects on Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton
  • In Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20 the Supreme Court abandoned the rigid SAAMCO ‘advice/information’ categories in favour of a purpose-based test

The Supreme Court’s judgment in Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20 was a watershed in negligence law. For over 20 years, practitioners had navigated professional liability using the binary framework of South Australia Asset Management Corp v York Montague Ltd [1997] AC 191 (SAAMCO), distinguishing between ‘advice’ cases, where the professional is responsible for all foreseeable consequences of a transaction, and ‘information’ cases, where recovery is limited to the consequences of the information being wrong. The decision in Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton swept that distinction away.

The Supreme Court introduced a new principle: the scope of a professional’s duty is defined by the purpose of the advice

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

Senior appointments in insurance services and commercial services announced

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Aviation disputes practice strengthened by London partner hire

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Residential property lawyer promoted to partnership

NEWS
he abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
back-to-top-scroll