The defence of illegality has long been considered available to negligent practitioners where an underlying fraud has been committed by their clients, but the courts have shown they are no longer willing to let lawyers or their insurers use it as a get out of jail free card.
In a unanimous judgment handed down by Lord Lloyd-Jones last month, the Supreme Court considered the defence of illegality in Stoffel & Co v Grondona, developing the Court of Appeal’s application of the principles set down in the Supreme Court’s decision in Patel v Mirza.
