Professional negligence – damages – loss of profits on property

Lord Blackburn in Livingstone v Rawyards Coal[1] defined damages as;

“the sum which will put the party who has suffered loss in the same position he would have been if he had not sustained the wrong”.

This “wrong” refers to both breaches of contracts and torts.

In contract the rule laid down by Parke B in Robinson v Harman [2]was that the injured party must be placed in the same position in which he would have been if the contract had been completed. Contract damages are therefore said to be forward looking.

In tort damages place the injured party in the same position in which he was before the tort was committed. Tort damages are said to be backward looking.

There are other ways of defining damages but in most cases it is a matter of common sense. Damages in

Read the full article Professional negligence – damages – loss of profits on property