A friendly warning: free advice can prove costly

By Francis Ho2019-02-21T06:00:00

Francis Ho recites a cautionary tale of how offering free services to friends can land a professional in very hot – and expensive – water

Oscar Wilde’s creation, Algernon Moncrieff, used to say it was vulgar to talk about one’s business. For Mrs Lejonvarn it would have been difficult to avoid, however, since it was her near-neighbours and longstanding friends, Mr and Mrs Burgess, who were keen to receive her expertise. The Highgate couple were planning to relevel and extensively landscape their garden.

The ensuing fallout has since played out in the press – who have been seemingly unable to resist a sordid tale, told through the courts, of the hapless neighbour who was only trying to help and the death by a thousand emails of a once-close friendship.

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