NRF Covid Resolve operates on a single online platform, has a fixed price, aims to achieve an outcome within four to six weeks, and can be used for disputes between companies or disputes between businesses within the same group.
Parties may
opt for a mediation process only, a mediation process followed by documents
only arbitration or an arbitration only. The mediators and arbitrators are
selected from a pre-agreed panel of independent sector specialists available
through the platform.
The launch of
NRF Covid Resolve is a response to the rise in corporate disputes as companies
struggle to fulfil contractual obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and
the fact commercial contracts generally prescribe formal, lengthy and costly
mechanisms for dispute resolution.
Meanwhile, the
financial impact of the pandemic means companies are keen to get back to
business as quickly as possible and in-house legal departments are under
pressure to conserve legal spend, particularly in the energy sector due to the
oil price crash.
Anne Lapierre,
Norton Rose Fulbright’s global head of energy and developer of NRF Covid
Resolve, said: ‘The energy industry faces unprecedented challenges from
COVID-19, compounded by the wider transformation of the sector as it undertakes
the essential transition away from fossil fuels.
‘As such, we
feel it our duty to come up with practical solutions to help clients get back
to what they do best as quickly as possible. Our unique solution to managing
the influx of disputes will do exactly that. Taking this product from
conception to launch in under two months is an achievement in which our energy
and disputes lawyers should take great pride.’
The service
uses a documents-only procedure (save for the option of a one-day virtual
mediation hearing, if selected), with a limit on the length of submissions in a
prescribed form and number of supporting precedent documents (which are loaded
through the platform). This allows in-house counsel to conduct the process
themselves rather than instruct external lawyers.
Neil Q Miller,
energy disputes partner, said: ‘Businesses, governments, judiciary and
commentators have all emphasised the need for a different approach to resolve
the volume of potential claims arising from COVID-19.
‘Many such
disputes are not suited to lengthy, procedurally burdensome and costly
traditional dispute resolution methods, with businesses being damaged by the
impasse created from managing many live disputes with no way of efficiently
resolving them. NRF Covid Resolve allows clients through their legal
departments to adopt a fast track process and effectively plan, manage and
resolve these claims whilst controlling external legal spend, which is a
priority now more than ever.’
