London is a global capital for dispute resolution
Sarah Lee, Partner and Robert Brittain, Practice Support Lawyer at Slaughter and May
Companies from all over the world come here to settle their disputes, in the courts, in arbitrations and in mediations. What makes London (and indeed the whole UK) so attractive? Put simply, professionals and institutions that are technically excellent and highly attuned to the needs of global business.
Start with the institutions: English law is preeminent in global commercial relations. It was built for and by traders in a mercantile nation and, as a common-law system, is flexible enough to adapt quickly to new areas of commerce and technology. Although English law agreements are often litigated and arbitrated in other legal centres (a tribute to its pragmatism and popularity), the world-leaders in interpreting and applying English law are still the English courts. Recent innovations (themselves spurred by global competition) have helped reinforce that. The Financial List, for example, was established in 2015 as a joint venture between England’s two leading business courts, the Commercial Court and the Chancery Division, to hear high-value banking and financial services claims.
Although the modern facilities of the Financial List’s headquarters in the Rolls Building (shared with England’s other business and property courts) are important, the key attraction for users of the Financial List is the specialist judges. Unlike in civil law countries, judges in the English higher courts are always lawyers of longstanding; they bring to the bench a deep knowledge of the law and of the people and businesses which use it and rely on it.
The judges are just one, very visible, example of the professional talent clustered in London and England’s regional centres. All the world’s leading law firms have a presence in London and many of the largest firms have their home bases here. The historical split between advocates (barristers) and client-facing advisors (solicitors) is perhaps less meaningful nowadays, but its legacy is an unrivalled breadth and depth of specialist expertise. And these lawyers and their clients are supported by an extensive infrastructure of professionals, from expert witnesses, to specialist insurers, to translators, to litigation funding providers.
It all adds up to a virtuous circle, in which the brightest and the best professionals flock to serve clients operating at the frontiers of commerce and innovation. But if the last few years have shown anything, it is that no place or industry is immune from disruptive change and even obsolescence. In that context, we need to talk about Brexit. It has dominated the political and business headlines, but the negotiation process carries with it an unavoidable degree of uncertainty. That can make it tempting to conclude that there is little we can confidently say about the effects of Brexit and that everything in the meantime is contingent. That is not true.
When it comes to the legal framework which underpins the UK’s dispute resolution regime, continuity is assured in many areas. For example, the legal foundations of arbitration are not dependent on EU law and will not be affected by Brexit. And even in areas where the current law is European, much will stay the same. The rules on which country’s laws govern a contract are a good example. At the moment, a regulation directs EU courts to give considerable weight to any governing law clause agreed by parties to a contract; it sets out clearly exceptions to that approach, and provides rules for the determination of governing law in the absence of an express choice. The way this regulation is drafted means it can and will continue to apply, in the UK and the EU27, even after exit day. So governing law clauses will be respected.
Even in areas where a continuation of the current regime is less assured, there are steps the UK has confirmed it will take to preserve key elements. For example, the Government has confirmed the UK will accede to the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. That will ensure that qualifying agreements conferring exclusive jurisdiction on the English courts are upheld in the EU27 and the UK, as they are today.
None of this is to say that London can be complacent. But the legal expertise and commercial instincts which underpin its people and its institutions mean that London, and the wider UK, should remain a compelling proposition for commercial parties wanting to resolve their disputes.
