The Law of Tort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

The Law of Tort - Essay Example This duty applies not only to accountants but also to surveyor’s valuers, actualists and any other professionals whose advice may be formerly sought concerning business transactions or any other action requiring their expertise. After this landmark case, Hedley Byrne and Co v Heller and Partners [1964] AC 465 case, set the legal precedence for future actions and the rules entitling the claims for negligent misstatements. In this case, it was decided that there must be a special relationship, between the two parties, which is based on the professional skills and judgment of the defendant and reliance on these by the plaintiff. According to Hedley, a special or fiducially relationship would have to be proven before the duty of care could be recognized, thus, the advisor must have special skills which the client relied on in the transactions (Morgan 2009). In Edwin Evans and Sons [1982] QB 438 a valuer neglected to sufficiently carry out the survey of a house and the costs of repairs for this house were more than the properties’ value the court determined there was indeed a breach of duty since the surveyors professional advice had resulted in losses for the client (Heining 2012). This is because legally, the document of a contract implies obligations on both parties, in this case, the surveyor was paid, thus the client fulfilled his side but in their doing substandard work, they violated the contract opening themselves to action (Gergen 2011). Hence, the advising individual must be in possession of special skills in relation to the nature of they advise give, for instance, if one is to advice on road construction, they must be a licensed civil engineer and this must be proven before the duties can come into effect. In instances where one give advice in the professional capacity or has the recipient of the advice, believe they are in possession of expertise in the relevant field, they will be held responsible for any resultant losses, or detriments in property value (Gergen 2011).  Ã‚