In solicitor's negligence claims for lost litigation, the claimant must first prove on the balance of probabilities that a cause of action of some value was lost before proceeding to quantify the lost chance. Where the underlying claim lacked viability independently of the solicitor's negligence, the failure to take proofs of evidence does not materially contribute to the loss. Damages for solicitor's negligence are only recoverable as an indemnity against real loss, actual or contingent, and a costs liability that is contingent on events unlikely to occur is not a recoverable loss. In cases of successive solicitor negligence, the date for assessing damages should reflect when the original proceedings would have come to trial had the first solicitor not been negligent.
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