A negligence claim against solicitors for failing to press a ground of criminal appeal is an abuse of process while the convictions stand, even if framed as loss of a prospect rather than a direct challenge to the conviction. The loss of a right to an appeal or trial, considered in the abstract without regard to prospects of success, is not a loss of something of value. A claimant who disclaims the burden of showing the abandoned ground would have succeeded cannot establish loss of anything of value.
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