Well, that was unexpected!

Like many solicitors, I’m not very good at maths. It’s one of the many MANY tasks I outsource to those who are better at it, and I’m grateful for their input.

As a small child, my eldest’s way of counting was “one, two, three, a lot!”. I laughed much harder at that than perhaps I should have done, but only because I could relate to it so much.

Nevertheless, there is something rather wonderful about numbers in that there is very much a right and wrong answer. If I gave the same completion statement or tax calculation to the experts, they would (or at least should!) come up with the same answer.

Law does not give you the same certainty. It’s part of its charm, but also part its frustration. I can never tell a client what the answer will be, in the same way that their accountant can. One of the things I can’t guarantee is how long something will take (the case I have in mind took SIX years!).

One of the other things I can’t guarantee is what the outcome will be, even when the question in question was “what amounts to extraordinary circumstances?”.

The case involved a couple whose holiday had to be cancelled due to the pilot being taken ill. The couple argued that they were entitled to compensation, but the airline refused, arguing that the terms of the contract between them allowed for the airline to avoid liability due to “extraordinary circumstances”. The case eventually went to the Supreme Court for the Judges to decide that a pilot falling ill was NOT, in fact, that extraordinary.

Personally I don’t think that it’s that unusual for someone to be taken ill. On that basis, I don’t know how it ended up taking six years and the highest court in the land to agree that I was right. It is entirely possible (for example) that the airline knew full well that they were probably wrong, but didn’t think the couple would go all the way and/or that the airline were so keen NOT to have a final determination that they were willing to keep appealing in the hope that the other side ran out of money/patience/steam/will to live (delete as appropriate).

Which is another relevant factor in law. You never really know what is motivating the other side or just how far they will go to prove/protect their position.

So when I or any other solicitor tells you that there are never any guarantees in our world, we really do mean it!

Kleyman & Co Solicitor. The full service law firm. As certain as we can be.