Small Claims Court: Professional Negligence - England

Hello,

I am considering bringing a legal claim for professional negligence against a criminal solicitor in the UK.

This relates to a criminal matter in which I was acquitted. However, due to what I believe was the solicitor’s negligence, a Defendant’s Costs Order could not be obtained. The solicitor failed to submit the relevant legal aid application form. The form was completed and signed by me and returned to the solicitor, who confirmed they would deal with the application from that point onwards.

When sending the paperwork, the solicitor made it clear that a legal aid application was being submitted as a precaution, so that in the event of an acquittal an application for costs could still be made. Despite this, the application was never submitted.

As a result, there was no formal refusal of legal aid and I was therefore unable to recover any of my private defence costs at legal aid rates.

I have been advised that I may have a claim in negligence based on loss of chance and I am currently in the process of preparing a pre-action letter. The potential value of the claim is the legal aid rate I would have recovered, estimated at between £10,000 and £15,000.

I would appreciate any views on the following:

1. How likely is it that the solicitor’s professional indemnity insurers would seek to settle a claim of this nature at an early stage?
2. If liability is denied and I proceed to issue a claim, I have been advised that I could limit the claim to £9,999 and issue proceedings on the small claims track. In practice, would a professional negligence claim be likely to remain on that track, or is it more likely to be allocated elsewhere due to complexity? I am concerned about potential exposure to the defendant’s legal costs if it were reallocated.
3. What would you do in this situation, given that this is effectively a loss of chance claim involving approximately £10,000?

Thank you in advance for any guidance.