Careful choices required in the post-Covid legal landscape

The article in the Times illustrates how legal experts expect the current level of disputes to pick up in coming months.

There are a number of options available to resolve commercial disagreements. Litigation, arbitration, mediation and even direct negotiation are all open to parties who are looking for effective resolution. While certain factors, such as clarification around specific points of law, may necessitate litigation, where there is a choice to be made it may well be the case that less adversarial, swifter and less costly approaches find favour.

The current climate of “survival of the fittest“ will undoubtedly lead disputing parties to look not only at the cheapest options but also make considered decisions over the best course and the most suitable advisers.

Add to this the heightened reputational scrutiny businesses will find themselves under, as well as the need to maintain a robust supply chain and healthy supplier relationships then, as Marion Smith QC says, careful and strategic thought is required.

We have explored the landscape in some detail in our whitepaper 'Adapting your disputes strategy post-restart'. We also discuss the topic in our webinar with Helen Mahy CBE