New Edition of Commercial Court Guide in England & Wales Published

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The 11^th edition of the Commercial Court Guide for England and Wales was published on 3^rd February. The updates to the Guide incorporate lessons learned from the global coronavirus pandemic and procedural reforms, including the Disclosure Pilot.

Key highlights from the new Guide include:

Parties are required to consider whether their witnesses should give evidence remotely.
Parties are advised to maximise their use of electronic documents rather than paper documents.
Bundles for hearings and trials are only to be filed electronically, unless a hard copy is specifically requested.
Assumption of some form of incorporation of the Disclosure Pilot into the Rules at the end of the extended pilot, with the non-pilot provisions consigned to the appendices.
The Guide encourages increased use of agreed factual narratives, to assist the courts and to allow the parties to hone in on the contentious areas.
Increased emphasis on early case analysis and assessment, with parties being encouraged to identify (1) the significant issues in dispute; (2) the evidence required to resolve them and (3) the reasonable steps for the fair disposal of the case at trial.

In addition, the language of the Guide has been refreshed: “ADR” (alternative dispute resolution) has been mainstreamed to “NDR” (negotiated dispute resolution); barristers and solicitor advocates are being jointly referred to as “advocates”; and, gender neutral language has been used.

While the Guide applies only in the Courts of England and Wales, it will be interesting to see what, if any, changes are made to the Northern Ireland system, particularly in light of the work of Mr Justice Horner and the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunal Service, Minister for Justice and the Lady Chief Justice on digital modernisation.

This article has been produced for general information purposes, and further advice should be sought from a professional advisor. For advice or information, please contact the Legal Technology team and Dispute Resolution team at Cleaver Fulton Rankin.