Seventh Earl of Malmesbury v. Strutt & Parker

We acted for the Claimant, the Seventh Earl of Malmesbury, in his successful claim of professional negligence against a major firm of surveyors.  

Having engaged Strutt & Parker, who held themselves out to be leading experts in the commercial exploitation of his agricultural land, Lord Malmesbury acted on their advice in granting 24 and 23 year leases to Bournemouth Airport for use as car parks.  They advised a fixed rent with a formula for rent reviews whereby the airport could effectively set its own rent.  Some time later, Lord Malmesbury was aghast to discover that fields were generating revenues of some £1m and going upwards every year.    

Despite the Defendants' vigorous denial of all blame - buttressed by a battery of lawyers, witnesses and experts - Mr Justice Jack ruled in April 2007 that their advice and negotiations fell notably short of the standard of competence to be expected from such surveyors and so found them to have acted negligently.  

The case is notable for the volume and complexity of the expert witness evidence involved, covering a multitude of subjects: surveying, car park lease negotiations, engineering and ground conditions, planning, highways, airport passenger forecasting and forensic accounting.  

The Defendants' attempt to pass on the blame for their errors to the solicitor and trustee acting for Lord Malmesbury's family trust, was rejected by the Judge.  

The Judge decided that the share of turnover which Lord Malmesbury should - in a non-negligent world - have obtained was 10% of the airport's parking revenues.  The matter may yet proceed further to the Court of Appeal on this aspect.