This month, the High Court in London heard a case about a failed yacht purchase. The plaintiff was Michael Hirtenstein, a US citizen. The businessman claimed against his own lawyer, who had allowed an extremely unprofitable deal to go through.
In 2010, Hirtenstein, who made his fortune selling a telecom start-up, bought a new ship. The 45m long Candyscape was bought for €4.5m against a market value of €17m at the time of launch. The discount was simply explained: the yacht could be bought «here and now», with no red tape, for «a burning» price.
And it would be OK, but no warranty was stipulated. Therefore, Hirtenstein had to fix the yacht at his own expense and he could not return the yacht to her former owner. As a result, Hirtenstein had to spend over $2,5 million to have the engines replaced and the boat transported.
At present the Plaintiff is trying to sue his lawyers who failed to provide for possible problems with the vessel and allowed to purchase it without warranty obligations.
The first hearing on the case has already taken place, the judge ruled that the lawyer was negligent, but did not bring his client direct damages. Hill Dickinson representatives will only have to pay monetary compensation. The amount will be announced in October. Experts predict that the compensation will be very small and not comparable to the cost of repairs.
