SAAMCO revisited: a new purposive test?

We welcome this much-needed restatement by the Supreme Court of a fundamental legal principle which dates back nearly 25 years to SAAMCo. Whilst, at its heart, the SAAMCO approach to the scope of duty principle was always a relatively simple proposition, the complexities surrounding its interpretation and implementation have been a source of intense debate and increasingly abstract legal argument ever since. With these judgments the Supreme Court has taken that principle back to basics and provided much needed clarity for all parties who find themselves as unfortunate participants in a professional negligence claim. It is difficult to argue against the simplicity of a finding that professionals should only be liable for losses which arise from the fruition of a risk which their advice was supposed to guard against.

Manchester Building Society (Appellant) v Grant Thornton UK LLP (Respondent) [2021] UKSC 20 On appeal from: [2019] EWCA Civ 40

https://www.supremecourt.uk/press-summary/uksc-2019-0040.html