The Hedley Byrne v Heller case and the White v Jones case

The Hedley Byrne v Heller case was a landmark decision of the House of Lords that changed the law on negligence and pure economic loss in the UK. The case involved a claim by an advertising agency that suffered financial loss due to a misleading reference given by a bank about the creditworthiness of a client. The House of Lords held that the bank was not liable for the loss, as it had excluded its responsibility by a disclaimer in the reference. However, the court also recognised that in some situations, a person who makes a statement to another may owe a duty of care to avoid causing economic loss by negligence, if there is a special relationship of trust and confidence between them, and if the statement is made voluntarily and relied upon reasonably. The court applied the principle of “assumption of responsibility” to establish the duty of care in cases of pure economic loss caused by negligent misstatements. The case has been influential in shaping the law on negligence and pure economic loss in the UK and other jurisdictions.

The White v Jones case was a landmark decision of the House of Lords that changed the law on negligence and pure economic loss in the UK. The case involved a claim by two daughters of a deceased man who suffered financial loss due to a solicitor’s failure to follow their father’s instructions when drawing up his will. The solicitor was the defendant, Mr Jones, who received the father’s request to change his will so as to leave £9000 for the benefit of his two daughters, who he had previously excluded. However, the solicitor took a long time to implement the request, and in the meantime, the father died and the will remained unchanged. The daughters, who were the claimants, sued the solicitor for professional negligence and attempted to claim the amount that they would have received had the will been altered.

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