Experience
Malcolm is a Partner in the Financial and Professional Risks team in Leeds.
He has more than fifteen years' experience of defending claims against professionals and advising insurers in relation to policy cover. He acts for clients on a wide-range of disputes including many complex and technical issues and a number of multi-million pound claims.
Malcolm regularly defends professional negligence claims against a wide variety of construction professionals, such as architects and engineers, as well as solicitors, accountants and brokers. He recently acted for a firm of structural engineers in relation to a £30m dispute arising from the allegedly negligent design of the hardstanding area external to a warehouse for a well-known builders' merchant.
A significant part of his work includes advising insurers in relation to matters of insurance policy coverage, including the scope of cover available and issues such as notification, aggregation and fraud. He also advises insurers on policy wordings.
Malcolm also provides advice and defence in connection with D&O insurance, defending claims against directors and company officers arising from alleged breaches of duty and advising insurers on policy cover.
Testimonials
‘Malcolm Rogers is the go-to person for anything PI related. He has a great ability to get clients 'onside' and achieve results that seem impossible. Couldn't recommend highly enough.’ Legal 500 2027
‘Malcolm Rogers adds further depth in construction-related professional negligence and policy coverage matters.’ Legal 500 2027
Recent Cases
In NDH Properties Limited v Lupton Fawcett LLP [2020] EWHC 3056 (Ch) Malcolm acted for the successful Defendant, defending a claim by a company which had taken out what was said to have been a disadvantageous loan. The Claimant did not make out its case that the Defendant had entered into an implied retainer or that it had owed a duty of care to advise it.
In UK Acorn Finance Limited v Markel (UK) Limited [2020] EWHC 922 (Comm) Malcolm acted for the insurer in connection with a multi-million pound insurance coverage dispute arising out of an unintentional non-disclosure clause in professional indemnity insurance policies issued to a surveyors' business. The key question was the relevant standard to be applied by the insurer in exercising its contractual decision making powers.
Publications
- When can the court infer professional negligence in construction disputes?
- Solicitors successfully defend alleged novel duty to warn non-client
- Professional liability: Breach and factual causation are not enough
- Substitution of a defendant after expiry of the limitation period: A door closed
- Professional ethics: Decline or greater scrutiny?
- Compulsory out of court dispute resolution? Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council