A number of cases reported recently have provided salutary reminders to solicitors and, by extension, to other professionals, of the need to ensure the scope of their retainer is clearly defined and that a client’s attention is drawn expressly to matters which fall outside it.

In Credit Lyonnais SA v Russell Jones & Walker [2002] EWHC 1310 (Ch), a solicitor who was not a property specialist, received seemingly clear and limited instructions from the client to exercise a break option in a lease.