diff --git a/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapper.java b/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapper.java
index ca18568fcfc31acb919cfba0fc29b339b6e87acf..1b27d7759715afbbc0fdbc8f012573982a373de1 100644
--- a/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapper.java
+++ b/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapper.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.UnrecognizedPropertyException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ArrayNode;
 import com.google.gson.Gson;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import javassist.NotFoundException;
@@ -27,6 +29,9 @@ import javax.inject.Inject;
 import javax.validation.ConstraintViolation;
 import javax.validation.ConstraintViolationException;
 import javax.validation.ValidationException;
+
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.exception.ExceptionUtils;
 import org.opengroup.osdu.core.common.logging.JaxRsDpsLog;
 import org.opengroup.osdu.core.common.model.http.AppException;
 import org.springframework.core.Ordered;
@@ -106,6 +111,17 @@ public class GlobalExceptionMapper extends ResponseEntityExceptionHandler {
 		return this.getErrorResponse(new AppException(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST.value(), "Validation error.", result.toString()));
 	}
 
+	@ExceptionHandler(IOException.class)
+	public ResponseEntity<Object> handleIOException(IOException e) {
+		if (StringUtils.containsIgnoreCase(ExceptionUtils.getRootCauseMessage(e), "Broken pipe")) {
+			this.logger.warning("Client closed the connection while request still being processed");
+			return null;
+		} else {
+			return this.getErrorResponse(
+					new AppException(HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE.value(), "Unknown error", e.getMessage(), e));
+		}
+	}
+
 	@ExceptionHandler(Exception.class)
 	protected ResponseEntity<Object> handleGeneralException(Exception e) {
 		return this.getErrorResponse(
diff --git a/legal-core/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapperTests.java b/legal-core/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapperTests.java
index a53c8009d56a9dfd608aad2354aa1765a6808caf..5e79afda261ae31bc495f14143ecebb41c23d854 100644
--- a/legal-core/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapperTests.java
+++ b/legal-core/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/middleware/GlobalExceptionMapperTests.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package org.opengroup.osdu.legal.middleware;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 import static org.powermock.api.mockito.PowerMockito.mock;
 
 import javassist.NotFoundException;
@@ -19,6 +20,8 @@ import org.mockito.junit.MockitoJUnitRunner;
 import org.springframework.web.HttpRequestMethodNotSupportedException;
 import org.springframework.web.context.request.WebRequest;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 @RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
 public class GlobalExceptionMapperTests {
 	@Mock
@@ -88,5 +91,22 @@ public class GlobalExceptionMapperTests {
 		//assertEquals("An unknown error has occurred.", response.getBody().getMessage());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void should_returnNullResponse_when_BrokenPipeIOExceptionIsCaptured() {
+		IOException ioException = new IOException("Broken pipe");
+
+		ResponseEntity response = sut.handleIOException(ioException);
+
+		assertNull(response);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void should_returnServiceUnavailable_when_IOExceptionIsCaptured() {
+		IOException ioException = new IOException("Not broken yet");
+
+		ResponseEntity response = sut.handleIOException(ioException);
+
+		assertEquals(org.apache.http.HttpStatus.SC_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, response.getStatusCodeValue());
+	}
 
 }
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