Ellison Road Limited v Khurram Mian t/a HKH Kenwright & Cox Solicitors & Anor
[2023] EWHC 375 (Ch)
Anthony Goodfellow v Warren Boyes & Archer (a firm)
30 July 2024
[2024] EWHC 2015 (KB)
High Court
A client sued their old lawyers. They tried to serve the papers at the wrong address – the lawyers' new employer’s office instead of their home. The judge said they should have checked the address properly and refused to allow them to serve the papers late, meaning their case was thrown out.
Key Facts
- •Negligence claim against former solicitors' partnership, Warren Boyes & Archer (WBA).
- •Claim issued on 31 July 2023, served on 28 November 2023 (near expiry of 4-month validity period).
- •Claim Form initially included WBA, Roythornes Limited, and Mr. Archer; later amended to only include WBA.
- •Claimant attempted service at Roythornes' office (The Incubator), where WBA never operated.
- •Defendant argued no good service under CPR r.6, and claim statute-barred.
- •Claimant sought to retrospectively ratify service under CPR r.6.15.
- •Central issues: Was service at The Incubator good service? Should the court validate service under CPR 6.15(2)?
Legal Principles
A claim against a partnership is a claim against the individual partners at the date the cause of action accrued.
Brookes v. AH Brooks [2010] EWHC 2720 (Ch)
Service of a claim form on a partnership must be at the usual or last known residence of an individual partner or at the principal or last known place of business of the partnership.
CPR r.6.9(2)
If a claimant believes the defendant no longer resides or carries on business at a known address, reasonable steps must be taken to ascertain the current address.
CPR r.6.9(3)
The court may retrospectively validate service if there is good reason (CPR r.6.15(2)). Factors considered include: reasonable steps taken by claimant; defendant's awareness of the claim; prejudice to the defendant.
Abela v. Baadarani [2013] UKSC 44; Barton v. Wright Hassall [2018] UKSC 12; R (Good Law Project) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2022] EWCA Civ 355
An address can only be considered a person's last known residence if it was actually their residence.
Collier v Williams [2006] EWCA Civ 20
Outcomes
Claimant's application dismissed.
Claimant failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain Mr. Archer's current residence or place of business before attempting service at The Incubator. The court found no good reason to retrospectively validate service under CPR r.6.15(2).
Defendant's application granted.
There was no good service under CPR r.6.9, and the court refused to retrospectively validate service under CPR r.6.15.