header-logo header-logo

Mind the trap

03 September 2010 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7431 / Categories: Opinion , Professional negligence
printer mail-detail

All practitioners—claimant and defendant—should appreciate the new professional negligence trap set by Gibbon...

Dominic Regan says the decision in Gibbon has set a new professional negligence trap

The authority of the year on the workings of Pt 36 is Gibbon v Manchester City Council [2010] EWCA Civ 726, [2010] All ER (D) 218 (Jun). It brings welcome clarification but then, tragically, creates new areas of uncertainty.

All practitioners—claimant and defendant—should appreciate the new professional negligence trap set by Gibbon. The claimant made a Pt 36 offer which the defendant rejected unequivocally in writing. Thinking better of it three months later the defendant purported to accept the very offer rejected.

Was this effective? The Rule declares that one can accept an offer despite having later made a counter-offer (CPR 36.9 (2). No mention is made of the ability to accept a rejected offer. The Court of Appeal held that the acceptance by the defendant in Gibbon was good. Part 36 is not a contractual animal but rather a procedural mechanism designed to promote

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—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll