DAY IN COURT
beefing up their Solicitor Advocate teams to work on the cases coming to the lower courts. “There is a lot more need for advocacy from our solicitors and we are training them,” says David Armstrong, head of litigation at Brodies.
One continuing trend in 2014 has been the shift towards specialised litigation. Hulme praises the Court of Session’s specialist IP court for its skill and speed, which is impressing legal firms and clients across the UK.
Laura Cameron, head of litigation and regulatory in the UK for Pinsent Masons, notes an increased demand for specialist lawyers. “Clients don’t want general commercial litigators – their days are numbered,” she says. David Armstrong, head of litigation at Brodies, says the firm already operates four specialist litigation divisions “to show their specialism”, with no partners doing general commercial work.
Cameron highlights busy times in regulatory and health and safety work, pensions and procurement – and insolvencyrelated litigation: “Clients are ready to turn every stone if they think there has been wrongdoing or misuse of funds by directors.”
Armstrong says Brodies’ debt recovery work has spiralled, with new utility work seeing the team grow from six to 28 within 12 months. He also highlights IP disputes and insurance work as busy areas.
Hulme says there is much more international litigation work going on, especially in areas like IP, which has taken him to China, the US, Canada and Italy in the recent past. Cameron supports this, highlighting work including health and safety and product liability in Hong Kong, China and Qatar.
Hulme does not see arbitration or mediation taking off as many had expected. Cameron says she has seen a “slow burn” pick-up in mediation, but suggests arbitration is not always cost-effective. Armstrong, however, has seen a clear shift towards alternative dispute resolution, especially adjudication in construction cases and mediation in the commercial space.
In the field of professional negligence, a raft of claims against professional advisers including solicitors and surveyors over property advice are tailing off, but construction claims are picking up as people take advantage of the economic upturn to build again, according to Alan Calvert of Brodies.
Calvert highlights some interesting infrastructure cases and expects more work to follow around renewable energy – with cases brought around the construction of wind turbines and against advisers who stand accused of overstating how much money might be made from renewable energy projects.
Although the number of property transaction claims is falling off, Gavin Henderson, a professional negligence expert with Simpson & Marwick, says cases are still coming through. He also highlights a broader range of service-related claims against “non-traditional professionals” like property factors and energy advisers.
“There is an increasingly blurred line around who is a professional,” he says, adding that he expects these kinds of claims to rise in 2015.