In the face of ongoing uncertainty, Julian Acratopulo asks: is the pre-eminence of the London courts being disrupted?
- The London courts have long been held up as the gold standard, but could market disruption, Brexit uncertainty and high costs threaten their supremacy?
- Practitioners must engage with opportunities for reform if London’s courts are to remain at the forefront of the market.
Disruption is now present in every sphere of our lives. However, disruption does not stem solely from technology or business innovations—it is also influenced by demographic shifts, globalisation, macro-economic trends and more. Such terminology may not have existed at the time at which London’s courts forged their international reputation. However, whatever the terminology, the underlying factors which shaped the export of English law and London courts internationally could no doubt now be easily characterised by reference to those labels.
Accordingly, although English courts and procedures have long been the envy of the world, we need to be mindful of the risk of disruption, given the current socio-political environment. As former US ambassador Michael McFaul is attributed as having observed:
