Kate Livesey

Kate’s professional liability practice covers the full spectrum of non-medical disciplines including claims against lawyers, insurance brokers, directors, valuers, financial advisers, accountants and construction professionals (engineers, architects, project managers and quantity surveyors).

Featured Professional Liability cases

Claims for and against lawyers: claims involving allegations of negligence in the context of commercial and other litigation/arbitration; acting for the claimant at trial and on appeal in the reported ‘lost litigation’ claim, Browning v Brachers; defending solicitors at trial in a claim concerning alleged negligence relating to a transaction to purchase a superyacht; representing the claimant alleging negligence by solicitors Allen & Overy in the drafting of the commercial contract granting West Ham United football club the right to host football matches at the former Olympic Stadium; advising a claimant regarding their solicitors’ negligent drafting of a settlement agreement; acting for claimants and defendants in negligent conveyancing claims; lender claims against solicitors; related fraud allegations against solicitors; acting for a barrister in a reported professional disciplinary appeal: P (A Barrister) v General Council of the Bar;

Claims for and against insurance professionals: acting for a major national insurance broker in a case concerning the placement of business interruption cover; acting against a major international broking firm in a £5.5m claim brought by underinsured commercial claimants; acting for loss adjusters accused of negligent claims handling; acting for claimant insurers alleging negligence by an underwriting agency authorised as the claimant’s cover-holder to underwrite and manage a large portfolio of construction bonds;

Claims against valuers: acting in lender claims including acting for valuers raising the defence of ex turpi causa (‘illegality’) against the notoriously fraudulent bridging loan company, Lexi Holdings, and the defence of a claim concerning the valuation of a portfolio of luxury hotels;

Acting for offshore company administrators and directors defending a claim for over £120 million brought by the property development companies by which they were formerly appointed;

Acting for independent financial advisers challenging decisions of the FOS in pension transfer cases in judicial review proceedings before the Court of Appeal and challenging the lawfulness of the FOS case fee: R v Financial Ombudsman Service ex parte Heather Moor & Edgecomb Ltd (2008) Bus LR 1486 and Financial Ombudsman Service v Heather Moor & Edgecomb (2009) 1 All ER 328;

Acting for and against accountants in claims relating to tax advice;

Claims for and against professionals acting as expert witnesses;

Claims against civil and structural engineers: representing defendant engineers in a claim by a contractor against engineers and specialist ground improvement contractors arising from the failure of vibro-replacement ground improvement works; representing engineers in connected multi-party actions arising from alleged failures of retaining walls at commercial premises; representing engineers bringing a contribution claim against geotechnical engineers in respect of the alleged failure of a remedial retaining wall at commercial premises; representing engineers in a case concerning the failure of a canal-side retaining wall; representing engineers in a multi-party dispute concerning the design and construction of a concrete floor slab in a large commercial warehouse unit; representing engineers in connection with failed foundations on a new-build housing estate; successfully defending engineers in a 4-week trial concerning specialist vibro ground improvement techniques used in the design and construction of a supermarket development: Co-operative Group Ltd v John Allen Associates Ltd (2012) 28 Const LJ 27; defending engineers sued by the owner of an historic library in a dispute over the ability of the structure to withstand book loading; representing the claimant in a claim against structural engineers and contractors arising from the collapse of a tower crane on an East London development site attributed to the unsafe design of the crane’s foundations;

Defending process plant engineers in an ICC arbitration claim alleging fraud and breach of contract;

Advising the owner of a classic yacht in an arbitrated dispute with marine engineers in relation to the vessel’s reconstruction;

Representing the specialist (technology and software) engineering supplier of a complex defence system in an arbitrated dispute with the prime contractor under a government defence contract;

Claims for and against architects: acting for the claimant in a dispute relating to design and installation defects in an underground structure; acting for the claimant in a dispute relating to the architect’s design of a building footprint exceeding the limits of the development area; acting for architects in claims arising from multiple alleged defects in residential developments; defending architects retained as multi-disciplinary consultants in a dispute over alleged architectural and engineering defects in the roof and structure of a sports centre; acting for a claimant in connection with complaint proceedings against a registered architect before the ARB;

Acting for landscape architects in TCC litigation arising from the failure of a retaining wall system separating a housing development from an adjacent railway line;

Claims for and against construction professionals acting as employers’ agent: Acting for an employers’ agent in a multi-party claim arising from failures in the design and construction of a boosted cold water system in a large residential development; acting for the claimant owner suing the main contractor and employer’s agent in respect of widespread defects following a £12 million project to develop and renovate a historic building;

Defending a multi-disciplinary construction consultancy in claims relating to alleged defective lead design, mechanical engineering, architectural design and contract administration services on a project to build an academy school;

Acting for quantity surveyors defending allegations of under-costing and negligent valuation of work;

Defending project managers specialist in the management of renovation projects proceeding in working theatres in multi-party TCC litigation arising from the collapse of the auditorium ceiling of a London theatre during a public performance whilst under refurbishment;

Professional disciplinary proceedings: acting for a barrister in a reported professional disciplinary appeal (see below) and advising a claimant in connection with complaint proceedings against a registered architect before the ARB.