A solicitor attending settlement is not obliged to ask the other party's solicitor whether that solicitor has personally satisfied himself as to the source of funds for a bank cheque; the duty extends at most to asking whether the cheque complies with the terms of settlement. Even where a breach of duty to inquire is assumed, the plaintiff must establish on the evidence that the inquiry would have averted the loss — where the probable answer to the inquiry would not have revealed the deficiency, causation is not established.
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