{"id":143426,"date":"2026-07-10T10:52:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/guides\/?post_type=legal-landscapes&p=143426"},"modified":"2026-07-10T11:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:06:32","slug":"united-kingdom-litigation","status":"publish","type":"legal-landscapes","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/guides\/legal-landscapes\/united-kingdom-litigation\/","title":{"rendered":"United Kingdom- Litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. What is the current legal landscape for litigation in your jurisdiction?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

England and Wales is expected to maintain its position as a leading jurisdiction for cross-border and domestic disputes over the coming years.<\/p>\n

The growth of group claims continues to represent a significant risk for many businesses operating in the jurisdiction, due to readily available litigation funding, the presence of active and innovative claimant-side law firms, and a willingness by the courts to entertain claims arising from acts alleged to have taken place outside of the jurisdiction. While group claims continue apace in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (where class representatives can benefit from the “opt-out” collective proceedings regime), we have also seen significant growth in securities litigation under section 90 and section 90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as well as mass tort, bribery and fraud claims, particularly targeting London headquartered groups for the acts of overseas subsidiaries and their supply chain partners. \u00a0AI and cryptocurrency claims – whether brought on a group or individual basis – are also on the rise.<\/p>\n

The litigation funding market remains a key topic for consideration following the publication of the Civil Justice Council\u2019s Final Report. Legislation is yet to be introduced to effect its changes \u2013 if implemented, this will have a significant impact on the litigation funding industry. Discussions also continue as to the possible expansion and evolution of the collective proceedings regime, potentially to the area of consumer law.<\/p>\n

Finally, although different in type to the disputes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a continued trend of disputes arising from the increasing uncertainty in our world today. The disputes landscape remains shaped by global forces such as tariffs, international supply chains, sanctions, and geopolitical unrest, and now wars across the globe, all of which have the potential to generate new and complex litigation across multiple sectors.<\/p>\n

2. What three essential pieces of advice would you give to clients involved in litigation matters?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The first piece of advice is to explore alternatives to litigation. A deal on the right terms is often the best result. \u00a0This means taking into account the bigger picture. It may make short term sense to sue a supplier or joint venture partner that has not performed, but if that supplier or partner is key to the business\u2019 long term prospects then a negotiated deal may sometimes resolve matters and help prevent future disputes.<\/p>\n

Sometimes a deal is not feasible, especially if the client has been wronged and the other party is unwilling to make amends.\u00a0 In those circumstances, the most important thing is to have a clear and open dialogue with stakeholders in the business as well as legal advisers about the strategy for the litigation and likely costs of pursuing that strategy and timescales.\u00a0 Litigation will rarely go exactly as planned, but if there is a strong shared vision of what you want to achieve by when, then it is more likely that you will achieve that goal without unnecessary (and potentially expensive) distractions or detours.<\/p>\n

Clients can also seek to protect themselves from litigation by conducting regular risk assessments, staying on top of current trends and taking proactive steps to mitigate the risks.\u00a0 As part of this, clients should be prepared for the possibility of larger and more novel claims, as there is clear continued appetite in the market for significant tort, bribery, environmental, securities and competition-related litigation, often with a cross-border dimension. Claimant law firms are advancing creative arguments, particularly in the competition space to leverage the opt-out regime when traditionally the claims would have been brought as a consumer rights infringement (if at all). A potential constraint on this trend is the availability of litigation funding and judicial decisions expected imminently on, for example, the scope of abuse of dominance claims and parent company liability for alleged mass torts overseas.<\/p>\n

It is also increasingly important to consider how the client uses artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.\u00a0 Whilst these can open up new areas of business and achieve efficiencies and other benefits, they also introduce new risks to businesses of potential claims or regulatory investigation which need to be considered carefully. This includes thinking ahead about potential contractual disputes, questions of intellectual property and privacy rights \u2013 both protecting existing rights and ensuring the business is not infringing others\u2019 rights – \u00a0and mitigating the reputational and regulatory risks of so-called ‘AI-washing’, where overstating AI capabilities could trigger investor liability, transparency breaches, or fines from regulators.<\/p>\n

As litigation risks generally show no sign of slowing down, it is as crucial as ever to make strategic use of alternative dispute resolution at key stages. Employing ADR at the right moments can help manage risk, control costs, and potentially achieve more favourable outcomes without the need for a full trial.<\/p>\n

3. What are the greatest threats and opportunities in litigation in the next 12 months?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The greatest threats are those addressed above which clients should prepare for as far as possible.\u00a0 ESG and sustainability claims are still on the rise, with claimants deploying novel legal arguments to advance their cases\u2014particularly in areas such as environmental harm and supply chain concerns. The intersection of AI with litigation is also becoming more pronounced, as disputes emerge around contractual obligations, the use of AI in business processes, and privacy concerns, often overlapping with cyber-related incidents.<\/p>\n

On the opportunity front, the aforementioned Civil Justice Council Final Report has proposed reforms which if adopted, would provide sophisticated corporate clients with greater flexibility in the way they make use of and structure funding arrangements. At the same time, the Department for Business and Trade\u2019s review of the opt-out regime in the CAT could result in a more balanced framework that further limits the scope for weak or speculative claims.<\/p>\n

Over the next 12 months, we expect to see both emerging risks and fresh opportunities for creative, high-value litigation, as courts, funders, and policymakers respond to these evolving challenges.<\/p>\n

4. How do you ensure high client satisfaction levels are maintained by your practice?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Maintaining high levels of client satisfaction in our litigation practice starts with building consistent, long-term relationships. We invest time in embedding ourselves within client teams, gaining a deep understanding of their commercial priorities, internal pressures, and brand values. This also allows us to offer bespoke, value-added services that are responsive to their needs\u2014particularly important in an environment where in-house legal teams are under increasing pressure to manage spend and demonstrate strategic value. We aim to deliver solutions that not only meet legal objectives but also align with the client\u2019s broader development goals. Crucially, we remain agile and adaptable, recognising that the nature of disputes, client expectations, and the technologies we use are constantly evolving. Given the length and complexity of many litigation matters, our ability to pivot\u2014whether in terms of process, tools, or approach\u2014is essential to staying ahead and continuing to deliver exceptional service throughout the lifecycle of a dispute.<\/p>\n

5. What technological advancements are reshaping litigation and how can clients benefit from them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We have a long history of investing in, and adopting, new technologies to ensure we are at the forefront of legal technology, focusing on optimising lawyer productivity. We recently rolled out Harvey\u2019s legal AI platform across the firm to further enhance the service we offer our clients. We also pioneered and use Luminance, which uses AI to speed up and enhance document review exercises (and have a strong relationship with the vendor, following our investment in the platform in 2016).<\/p>\n

We expect that the combination of tools such as these will be the biggest catalyst in recent times in improving efficiencies for our clients. The use of new technologies and AI tools will change the roles of both in-house legal teams and their external counsel. For example, in-house teams may be able to use these tools for more discrete pieces of advice that they might previously have used external counsel for. It will therefore be critical to have effective dialogue about in house and external counsel capabilities, and how the two relate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-143426","legal-landscapes","type-legal-landscapes","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/legal-landscapes\/143426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/legal-landscapes"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/legal-landscapes"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}