- Nocton v Lord Ashburton
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Nocton v Lord Ashburton Court House of Lords Date decided 19 June 1914 Citation(s) [1914] AC 932 Keywords Professional negligence, assumption of responsibility Nocton v Lord Ashburton [1914] AC 932 is a leading English tort law case concerning professional negligence and the conditions under which a person will be taken to have assumed responsibility for the welfare of another.
Contents
Facts
Lord Ashburton was buying a property for £60,000 on Church Street, Kensington, London. His solicitor was Mr Nocton. Mr Nocton advised Lord Ashburton to release part of the mortgage security. This was a bad idea, because as Mr Nocton in fact knew, this meant that the security would become insufficient. Lord Ashburton alleged the advice was not given in good faith, but rather in Mr Nocton's self interest.
Judgment
Viscount Haldane LC for the House of Lords held that despite Derry v Peek (which had disallowed any claim for misstatements apart from in the tort of deceit) Mr Nocton was liable for his bad advice given the fiduciary relationship between the solicitor and client.
See also
Assumption cases Fitzherbert, New Natura Brevium (1534)Lamplugh v Brathwaite (1615) 80 ER 255Hughes v Metropolitan Railway Co (1877) 2 App Cas 439Nocton v Lord Ashburton [1914] AC 932Ultramares Corp v Touche 174 NE 441 (1931)Candler v Crane, Christmas & Co [1951] 2 KB 164Combe v Combe [1951] 2 KB 215Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd [1964] AC 465Ministry of Housing and Local Govt v Sharp [1970] 2 QB 223Crabb v Arun DC [1976] 1 Ch 170Dutton v Bognor Regis CC [1972] QB 373Smith v Eric S Bush [1990] 1 AC 831Waltons Stores Ltd v Maher (1988) 164 CLR 387Austotel v Franklins (1989) 16 NSWLR 582Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd [1995] 2 AC 145White v Jones [1995] 2 AC 207Spring v Guardian Assurance plc [1995] 2 AC 296Williams v Natural Life Health Foods Ltd [1998] 1 WLR 830Customs & Excise v Barclays Bank plc [2006] UKHL 28see Assumption of responsibility- Hedley Byrne
Notes
Categories:- English tort case law
- House of Lords cases
- 1914 in case law
- 1914 in the United Kingdom
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