Overview

Solicitors wishing to terminate their retainer with clients intent on pursuing a hopeless case will draw comfort from a recent key decision by the Court of Appeal. It saw the Court support the solicitors’ decision to terminate their retainer with their client in light of his desire to advance arguments that were not properly arguable.

Richard Buxton (Solicitors) v Mills-Owens [2010] concerned a statutory appeal against the grant of planning permission. Counsel had advised the client that the appeal could only proceed on the basis of a procedural or legal error by the planning inspector and that only one of these grounds had a chance of succeeding.

But the client insisted that the case be argued on a wider basis by reference to the planning merits of the case and the safeguarding of the environment. The client eventually refused to approve a skeleton argument prepared by counsel. In light of the conflict with their client over how the case should be argued, the solicitors decided to terminate their retainer with the client and sought to recover their fees.

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