A solicitor's retainer does not ordinarily contain an implied term requiring definitive advice by a specific date; the obligation is to advise within a reasonable time, and what constitutes reasonable time depends on the circumstances including the client's own conduct. In professional negligence claims against lawyers, the plaintiff must establish by probative evidence — not merely self-serving testimony about hypothetical responses — that properly advised, they would have taken a different course. Where a client must elect between workers' compensation and common law damages, the critical question for assessing negligence is whether the advice would have demonstrated a significant benefit from pursuing damages, not merely the quantum of individual heads of damage.
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