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06 March 2026 / Robert Hargreaves
Issue: 8152 / Categories: Features , Professional negligence , Liability
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Case review: a watershed in negligence law

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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

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