London “must innovate” to keep reputation as go-to venue for global disputes, say litigators

In The Lawyer Litigation Top 50 2015, due to be published on Monday, a number of top lawyers have called on the UK legal market to “wake up and smell the coffee” regarding the changing position of London as the go-to disputes venue for international corporates.

The £300m development of the business disputes-dedicated Rolls Building in 2012 and more recent launch of the financial list “shows a willingness to innovate”, remarked one lawyer. 

However lawyers and Government must not be complacent about the capital’s reputation in the face of growing wealth and maturing litigation centres in the Middle and Far East.

Innovation will be key, Bar Council chairman Alistair McDonald told The Lawyer, so London’s legal services remain one of the nation’s “greatest exports”.

The sector’s trade surplus has nearly doubled over the past decade to £3.1bn in 2013, though this demonstrates a not insignificant drop year-on-year from £3.9bn in 2012.

Hogan Lovells global litigation head Michael Davison said lawmakers must “realise the law is a very important industry for Britain and requires investment”.

He added there is “no political will for it and it will hold London on the global stage in future”.

Though London remains the most attractive venue for litigation globally, Davison concluded, it must not be complacent about its reputation and instead should innovate to keep ahead of other maturing disputes centres.

“Government makes a lot of money out of legal services but our court infrastructure still isn’t up to scratch”, he added.

White & Case London litigation head John Reynolds agreed, adding the Rolls Building would not “tip the balance in favour of London” amidst mammoth investment in venues in Dubai and Singapore.

Currently, almost half (48 per cent) of claims made in the commercial court involve one party based outside of the UK.

In 2014, around 61 per cent of litigants were non-domestic, according to statistics provided by the court until last August.

However, though the number of cross-border disputes held in the London courts and arbitration centre is growing, regions like Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai are providing “stiff competition” to London.

Singapore’s arbitration centre has enjoyed spectacular growth in recent years, and in January launched the Singapore International Commercial Court. Dubai and Qatar are aligning themselves as rising centres for international arbitration, and even the Hague has developed Prime Finance, a specialist international finance tribunal, in recent years.