10 October 2021

James Brearley, Pendragon’s former Stratstone managing director and now Inchcape Retail CEO, has lost a case against his former legal team Higgs and Sons.

Brearley and three others alleged professional negligence over advice surrounding his attempt to set up a JLR dealership in Wolverhampton following his departure from Pendragon in 2015.

Dismissing the case, which started in June in the High Court, Mrs Justice Sarah Falk concluded “there was a breach of duty by Higgs in failing to provide adequate advice on 22 April and 16 April 2015”.

However, she added: “The claimants have not established their case as to what Mr Brearley would have done if he had received competent advice. The effect of my findings is that the surviving claims… fail both in respect of the Wolverhampton opportunity and in respect of the costs of the Pendragon proceedings.

“In any event the claimants have not demonstrated that there would have been a substantial chance of Pendragon permitting Mr Brearley to pursue the Wolverhampton Opportunity.”

Mr Brearley’s plans to open an Arch concept Jaguar Land Rover dealership were stopped following legal action by Pendragon in 2016. Pendragon previously operated the franchise in Wolverhampton.

Mr Brearley’s JRB Automotive eventually sold the site for the showroom to Jardine Motors later in 2016.

Commenting on the result, Mr Brearley highlighted that the judge had found there was a breach of duty by his former law firm but maintained the action was a private matter.

Auto Retail Agenda has approached Higgs and Sons for comment.

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Tags: Higgs & Sons, James Brearley, Legal