Read the judicial statistics and you might be forgiven for thinking the litigation market had collapsed. According to the latest figures from 2003, the 14,191 claims and originating summonses issued in the Queen’s Bench Division in 2003 (the latest figures) represented a 24% fall on 2002 numbers. Cases in 2002 were 14% down on 2001, and the three previous years had seen decreases of 20%, 63% and 37% respectively on prior years. New cases in 2003 were just 5% of the number recorded in 1990. Has the contentious market really altered beyond recognition, or are there other trends at work in the current legal scene?
The volume of cases in the Queen’s Bench Division may have collapsed, but lawyers are still busy. Quite simply, the market has evolved. Many litigation departments have been renamed as ‘dispute resolution’ and there are discernable trends for the interested observer of the current legal scene, both in the type of work and in its features. Two current factors stand out – the increase in international disputes and the pervading influence of technology. A third factor, whose impact has yet to be seen in most firms’ financial results, will be work stemming from the rise of the securities regulator.
