Where a solicitor drafts a document containing ambiguous provisions but also incorporates protective mechanisms that would have averted the client's loss if utilised, the scope of liability limb under s 5D(1)(b) of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) will not be satisfied if the client fails to avail itself of those protections. The standard of care for solicitors in drafting documents is to be assessed by reference to the document as a whole, not just the allegedly deficient clauses. The question whether ambiguous drafting per se constitutes a breach of duty was expressly left open.
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