In solicitors' negligence cases involving loss of a chance, a trial judge who finds strong prospects of success on liability in the hypothetical trial cannot then apply a discount for litigation risk without identifying specific deficiencies, uncertainties or evidentiary difficulties in the plaintiff's case. A discount that is contrary to the judge's own findings on probabilities, and not referable to any identified difficulty, will be set aside. Where a plaintiff has incurred significant costs prosecuting the negligence claim against the solicitor, those actual costs may offset the hypothetical solicitor-client costs that would have been incurred in the lost cause of action, such that no deduction for hypothetical costs is warranted.
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