Niprose Investments Limited v Vincents Solicitors Limited

Facts

Niprose Investments Limited, the 60th claimant, is a family company set up by Mrs Ruth Nickoll to buy eight units off-plan in 'The Rise', a residential development in Liverpool that was partly funded by buyers. The developer's marketing agent, Certa Invest, introduced it to Vincents Solicitors Limited, the 10th defendant, who acted on the purchase. Vincents' Report on Title warned that the 50% 'deposits' were a pre-payment of the price that effectively financed the seller. It also warned that the seller could fail between exchange and completion, in which case any money paid would be lost. The report enclosed an SRA Warning Notice, referred to as 'SRA Guidance'. On exchange on 26 April 2018 the claimant paid £299,800. The developer's solicitors held this as stakeholder for the seller and could release it under Schedule 2 to the sale agreement, which did not require them to verify the supporting documents. The finance company went into administration, the development was never completed and the developer went into liquidation. The claimant sued for its lost deposits and Vincents' fees. It alleged three failures: not advising it against proceeding, not ensuring it understood the risks, and not advising that the deposits had no meaningful security. The claim was one of many brought by 94 claimants against ten firms. After earlier interim judgments and widespread settlements, it was tried alone as the sole remaining lead claim against Vincents.