Solicitors

The defendant solicitors exceeded the fee estimate they had given the claimant, and the claimant refused to pay. The firm then stated that it would no longer act for the claimant. The claimant applied for a detailed assessment of the outstanding bills under s 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974.

The master found that the claimant had a reasonable justification for delaying payment, and that the termination of the retainer by the firm amounted to a repudiatory breach of contract. On appeal the court ruled that it could only interfere with the master’s decision if it was satisfied that his conclusion lay outside the bounds within which reasonable disagreement was possible. Solicitors could terminate a retainer for good reason and on reasonable notice.

At common law, it was not good reason that a client had not paid part of the profit costs as an ordinary claim or statutory appeal proceeded. If solicitors wrongly terminated on that basis they could not sue