Note: it is not always clear what would have happened but for the defendant’s negligence. In Mount v Baker Austin [1998] PNLR 493, solicitors failed to pursue their client’s claim sufficiently quickly with the result that it was ‘struck out’, i.e. dismissed by the court as having no real merit for trial. The client sued the solicitors for the delay. The court held that the client had failed to show that his original claim had a realistic prospect of success, and, therefore, it could not be said that the solicitors’ negligence had caused any loss.