Commercial Litigation Summit

The annual Legal Business Commercial Litigation Summit on 8 November 2021 brought together senior disputes specialists to debate key legal issues. The spotlight at this year’s summit focused on the development of litigation in the COVID era, opportunities and challenges facing courts to adapt to new ways of working, the types of disputes most likely to arise as a result of the pandemic and the use of hybrid approaches to hearings.

On the fifth panel of the day ‘Too much of a good thing: are cases becoming over managed?’, Partner John McElroy offered an in-depth solicitor perspective on the new rules on disclosure, witness evidence and costs budgets. Sara Masters QC, Henry Byam-Cook QC and Daniel Bovenspien, all of Twenty Essex also shared their views on this panels. The mix of pros and cons sparked an interesting conversation.

The subsequent panel 'Making group actions economically viable for all', looks at practical ways to ensure that group claims ultimately will provide reasonable compensation for claimants while remaining economically viable for both funders and firms to ensure they get off the ground. Partner Lucy Pert, having worked on such group claims and for a leading global litigation funder prior to joining Hausfeld, contributed to the discussion.