Brave New World - Commercial Litigation Association
Transcription
Brave New World - Commercial Litigation Association
Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Annual Conference 2013 Commercial Litigation Strategies & Funding Options in the ‘Brave New World’ Tuesday 14th May 2013 Dexter House, Tower Hill, London CPD Registered with the SRA for 5½ hours 1 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes The Commercial Litigation Association welcomes you to the Annual Conference 2013: Commercial Litigation Strategies & Funding Options in the ‘Brave New World’ Tuesday 14th May 2013 Dexter House, Tower Hill, London Your conference pack contains: Programme for the Day Page 3 Delegate List Pages 6 to 9 Speaker and Partner Profiles Pages 4 & 5 & Page 10 onwards CLAN champions the cause of all who are involved in the practice and business of commercial dispute resolution in its broadest sense and from every walk of professional life. We keep the interests of our members uppermost in promoting best practice and providing training of the highest quality and relevance. CLAN is developing a strong national and international network by representing the interests of commercial litigators with valuable networking opportunities both nationally and internationally. Amongst other aims, we reject the under funding of the civil justice system and assert the need for the investment of court fees in the civil justice system. For further details of member benefits please visit our membership page at www.comlit.co.uk 2 of 30 8:30 Registration Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes 9:00 Welcome by Tony Guise, Chairman of CLAN and Director of GUISE Solicitors 9:15 Keynote Address: The Honourable Mr Justice Ramsey 9:45 The Reform Debate: Debate the issues raised by The Hon. Mr Justice Ramsey. An expert panel including Nick Rowles-Davies of Vannin Capital, Andy Ellis of Practico and Susan Scott of Practical Law. Moderated by David Chalk, CLAN Executive member 11:00 Working for Free? Assessing Clients and Opponents to Minimise Risk. Red Flag Alert cover all aspects of business activity to assess and monitor the performance of both clients and opponents. 11:30 Coffee break courtesy of our partners at Universal Legal Protection. 12:00 Over before its even started? With the new form of CFA available and the option of DBAs revealed, we explore the future for the commercial litigation business model. Contributions from Martin Heskins, Policy Adviser on Civil Justice, Law Society of England and Wales, Neil Mirchandani of Hogan Lovells, Paul Martin of Fasken Martineau in Toronto and Tom Blackburn of Just Costs Solicitors. Moderator: Professor Rachael Mulheron, Queen Mary University of London 1:00 Lunch courtesy of our partners at Omnia Software. 2:00 PR in Law: An introduction from Byfield Consultancy 2:15 Costs Management & Pricing Workshop - The perspective from the judiciary: Steven Whitaker - A practitioner’s view: David Foster, Partner, Barlow Robbins The practicalities of costs management explored with examples of tools available now to facilitate effective and successful management of costs. Panel: Jim Diamond, Sue Nash of Omnia Software, Ben Hawkins of iCosts and Stuart Ritchie. Moderator: Mark Beaumont, Annecto Legal Ltd & CLAN Executive Member 3:30 Afternoon Tea courtesy of our partners at Annecto Legal Ltd 3:45 Mediation and Disclosure in a world of Costs Management Managing e-disclosure and expectations effectively and efficiently, with contributions from Daniel Kavan of Kroll Ontrack, Beverley Barton of Practical Law, Dipti Hunter of DACBeachcroft (& CLAN Executive Member), and Tim Wallis, Mediator at Expedite Resolution. Moderator: Mike Taylor of i-Lit 4:30 CLAN’s programme of work for 2013/2014: Tony Guise will lead the discussion. 5:00 Networking Reception courtesy of our partners at Byfield Consultancy. 3 of 30 Headline Sponsor: Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Additional Partners: 4 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Headline Sponsor: Data Recovery Ontrack® Data Recovery services from Kroll Ontrack is the fastest and most effective way to recover from an unexpected data loss. 50,000 customers from consumers to FTSE 100 companies rely on our best-in-class data recovery services each year. With over 25 years' experience we're experts in establishing the cause of and solution for all types of data loss scenarios. You can have the peace of mind that the Ontrack Data Recovery team has worked on and recovered data from your data loss situation. Information Management With over 25 years' experience in data recovery and information management support, Kroll Ontrack can provide you with professional, reliable and cost-effective products and services. Computer Forensics The shift away from paper files and the increased reliance on computers and other electronic devices to enhance efficiency has created new challenges for companies as they safeguard intellectual property, investigate fraud within their organisations, and protect their reputations from external threats. E-Disclosure Efficient and effective management of electronically stored information (ESI) is integral to a successful litigation, regulatory inquiry or investigation. Increasingly complex legal requirements and growing volumes of ESI have made the disclosure process more daunting and expensive than ever before. The proper handling of data, from identification through production, greatly decreases the costs of disclosure and improves efficiency of the overall process. Products & Software The range of software solutions offered by Kroll Ontrack give system administrators, IT managers, directors, litigation support personnel and lawyers the power to manage, store, migrate, intelligently search and recover their data. The expertise and experience gained by Kroll Ontrack in the areas of data recovery, information storage management, computer forensics and electronic disclosure has gone into developing this powerful, yet easy to use suite of software products. Nexus, 25 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB Tel: 020 7549 9600 Email: enquiries@krollontrack.co.uk 5 of 30 Delegate List Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Delegate Name Title Company Alison Bradley Consultant Keystone Law Amanda Burge Partner Enyo Law Amanda Jordan Client Services Just Costs Solicitors Anabel Thomas Partner Enyo Law Andew Wass Partner Withers LLP Andy Ellis Managing Director Practico Limited Anthony Smith Managing Director Legal Project Management Ltd Arabella Musson Business Development Omnia Ashmita Garrett PSL Freshfields Bellamy Forde Head of Litigation McMilliam Williams Ben Rigby Journalist CDR News Beverley Barton PSL Practical Law Bill Dixon Partner FSP Law Bill Evans Counsel Vannin Capital Bill Molloy Partner Fasken Martineau Caoimhe Clarkin Associate A&L Goodbody Christian Smith Partner Seddons Costa Kypre Consultant Kroll Ontrack Daniel Kavan Managing Director Kroll Ontrack Darren Hanison Partner Robin Simon LLP David Chalk CLAN Executive University of Winchester David Foster Partner Barlow Robbins LLP Dipti Hunter Associate DACBeachcroft Edward Machin Journalist CDR News Elena Tsap Business Development Red Flag Alert Emily Tearle PSL Travers Smith Genevieve Labbe Consultant Annecto Legal Ltd Geoff Silva Director Silva Legal Services Gus Sellitto Managing Director Byfield Consultancy Harkiran Hothi Partner Kirkland & Ellis International LLP Hayley Pizzey Solicitor Shepherd & Wedderburn 6 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Delegate Name Title Company Helen Matthews Consultant Bircham Dyson Bell HHJ Ramsey Royal Courts of Justice Jaishee Kalia Legal Business James Gbesan Business Development MLS James Morrey-Jones Consultant Kroll Ontrack James Scozzi Solicitor / Head of Costs McMilliam Williams Jay Sahota Partner DMB Law Jeff Lewis Partner Brabners Chaffe Street Jeffrey Coorsh Newlands-Horizons Jemima Faircloth Solicitor Seddons Jim Diamond Costs Lawyer Jim Diamond Costs Jo Mepham Account Manager ULP John Astill Associate JLT Group Jonathan Haydn-Williams Consultant Goodman Derrick LLP Joseph Kosky Partner Locke Lord (UK) LLP Julie Hume Executive Assistant The BIG Network Ltd Kathleen O'Connor Business Development i-Lit Ken Arnold Managing Director MLS Kevin Heath Partner Locke Lord (UK) LLP Kevin Wonnacott Operations Director Practico Limited Kit Chellel Legal Reporter Bloomberg Luke Harrison Associate Debenhams Ottaway LLP Lyndsey Ratcliffe Partner asb law Marc Keidan Partner Cooke Young & Keidan Mark Beaumont Director Annecto Legal Ltd / CLAN Executive Mark Osgood Partner Moore Blatch LLP Martin Heskins Policy Advisor, Law Society Matthew Amey Director The Judge Matthew Ball Partner Sasto & Klinger Matthew Reach Solicitor Argentum Melissa Jones PSL DACBeachcroft Michael Kain Chairman Kain-Knight Michael Willett Costs Lawyer Freshfields 7 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Delegate Name Title Company Mike Taylor Managing Director i-Lit Mike Wilson Associate Bridge Mcfarland Miriam Low Acount Executive Byfield Consultancy Molly Ahmed Senior Associate Fox Williams Solicitors Neil Mirchandani Partner Hogan Lovells Neil Rose Litigation Futures Nick Cook Senior Solicitor Goodman Derrick LLP Nick Moran Partner Silverman Sherliker Nick Rowles-Davies Consultant Vannin Capital Nicole Finlayson Solicitor Penningtons Nitin Khandhia Partner BTMK Orion Wisness Consultant Kroll Ontrack Parminder Plaha Business Development Patrick Tedstone Partner ORJ Solicitors Paul Martin Partner Fasken Martineau Paul Vinsen Costs Lawyer Addleshaw Goddard Paul Webster Operations Manager Abbey Legal Protection Peter Pratt Senior Associate Collyer Bristow Peter Sharp Partner Morgan Lewis & Bockius Peter Ware Newlands-Horizons Peter Wood Partner Philip Jones Commercial Litigator Rachael Mulheron Rachel Higgs Withers LLP Queen Mary University Partner Rachel Rothwell Mills & Reeve LLP Litigation Funding Rebecca Wright Associate Cooke Young & Keidan Reem Ayad Associate Locke Lord (UK) LLP Richard Elsen Chairman Byfield Consultancy Richard West Operations Manager Red Flag Alert Rita Sheth Associate Fasken Martineau Rob Jones Consultant Kroll Ontrack Robert Parks Associate Barlow Robbins LLP Robert Paydon Partner Fasken Martineau 8 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Delegate Name Title Company Ryan Coyne Business Development Merril Corp Sally Dunscombe Director Annecto Legal Ltd Scott Jarrold Business Development Abbey Legal Protection Sheena Buddhdev Of Counsel Bingham McCutchen (London) LLP Simon Cohen Associate Locke Lord (UK) LLP Simon Wadlow Business Development Just Costs Solicitors Simon Walsh Associate SA Law Sophie Dallaire International Lawyer Canadian FSA Steve Payne Consultant Omnia Subir Karmakar Solicitor Director Saunders Law Ltd Sue Nash Managing Director Omnia Sukhi Kaler Partner Fasken Martineau Susan Scott PSL Practical Law TBC Byfield Consultancy TBC DACBeachcroft TBC Red Flag Alert Teresa Leussing Consultant Newlands-Horizons Tim Barr Partner Robin Simon LLP Tim Mayer Investment Officer Woodsford Funding Tim Wallis Mediator Tim Wallis Ltd Tom Blackburn Advocacy Manager (Costs) Just Costs Solicitors Tom Coates Partner Lewis Silkin LLP Tom Custance Partner Fox Williams Solicitors Tom Grodecki Solicitor Slaughter & May Tom Moore Journalist CDR News Tom Ware Consultant Newlands-Horizons Tony Guise Chairman of CLAN GUISE Solicitors Victoria Withington Solicitor Mark Humphries Law William Brooks Business Development ARAG 9 of 30 Biographies Keynote Speaker: Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes The Hon. Mr Justice Ramsey Ministry of Justice Sir Vivian Ramsey studied Engineering Science and Economics at Oxford University before working as a civil engineer in the UK and overseas. During this time he became a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. After studying law in London he was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1979 and was a practising barrister in Keating Chambers from 1981 to 2005. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1992 and practised around the world as an advocate, arbitrator, adjudicator and mediator in technical disputes, particularly related to construction and engineering projects. In 2002 he was elected as a Bencher of Middle Temple. He appeared in the High Court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords as well as overseas courts and was called to the Bar in Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei and Trinidad for particular cases in those jurisdictions. He acted as counsel in numerous domestic and international arbitrations. He was also appointed as chairman, co-arbitrator or sole arbitrator in some 90 domestic and international arbitrations including ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, SCC, JCCA and other institutional or ad-hoc arbitrations. He was also appointed as a mediator and an adjudicator as well as being an expert appointed by the ICC President and a member of Dispute Review Boards. From 2003 to 2005 he was Head of Keating Chambers, a set of barristers' Chambers specialising in Building, Technology, IT and associated commercial Disputes. In 2003 he chaired the PNE Committee established under section P6 of the Balancing and Settlement Code to determine a wide range of notification disputes under the NETA trading arrangements in the UK Electricity Industry. He is the current joint editor of Keating on Building Contracts which is a standard text in the UK and Common Law countries. He produced the 7th Edition in 2000, the 8th Edition in 2006 and the 9th Edition in 2012. He was a founding editor of Construction Law Journal and continues as a Consultant Editor. He has edited or contributed to or is a member of the editorial board of a number of other publications. He is a member of the Advisory Board or the Association for Consultancy and Engineering and a Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Constructors. In 2010 he received the President's Medal from the Society of Construction Law and the Clare Edwards Award from the Technology and Construction Solicitors' Association. He is also a Special Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham and has recently been appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Construction Law and Management at King's College, London. In November 2005 he was appointed as a High Court Judge in the Queen's Bench Division and from 2007 to 2010 served as judge in charge of the Technology and Construction Court in London. He was appointed judge in charge of the court estates in 2011 and in 2012 was appointed to implement the cost reforms in civil litigation arising from the Jackson Report. Clerk: Mr David Hamilton (david.hamilton5@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk) Tel: 020 7947 6331 10 of 30 Biographies Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Tony Guise Chairman Commercial Litigation Association & Founding Partner, GUISE Solicitors Admitted in 1986 Tony practice ranges from representing those affected by commercial fraud to shareholder and partnership issues, regulatory investigations and disputes relating to solicitors costs. Tony appears before the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) and is one of only the few lawyers in the country appointed to the SDT's Duty Solicitor Panel. A member of the Solicitors Assistance Scheme Panel he is also a member of the Editorial Board for the Law Society's Compliance Bulletin and writes a monthly column on regulatory issues for the Solicitors Journal. He also advises in connection with costs disputes acting for either Solicitors or their client in resolving issues arising from disputes about the extent and scope of a Solicitor’s charges. He is an acknowledged expert in this field. From March 2002 until March 2004 Tony Guise was President of the London Solicitors’ Litigation Association (the LSLA) a law reform lobby comprising some 900 members, mainly commercial litigators, based in central London. Mr Guise has played a leading role in introducing innovative reform in the civil justice process in England and Wales. He is a founding member and Chairman of the Commercial Litigation Association (CLAN) a national body seeking to promote the interests of commercial clients and their lawyers. Tony regularly contributes articles on his particular areas of expertise to legal and other journals. He is a contributing author for the Law Society’s Civil Litigation Handbook for the section on managing the client retainer and profitable litigation and the Law Society's Practical Precedents for Civil Litigators (costs and disclosure). He regularly lectures for commercial conference organisers and to law firms on civil law and procedure and costs related issues. Chambers and Partners (2008-10) says that "Tony Guise of Guise Solicitors is recognised for immense knowledge in the [regulatory] field, which he employs on behalf of solicitors before the SDT" Tony regularly contributes articles on the above issues for: Law Society’s Gazette; New Law Journal; Solicitors’ Journal; Litigation Funding; The journals of regional Law Societies; Solutions (the journal of the Dispute Resolution Section of the Law Society of England and Wales). He frequently speaks on the above issues to the Law Society, regional Law Societies, Recognised Groups of the Law Society and commercial conference providers in addition to speaking at the firm’s in house events. Address: GUISE Solicitors, 1 Alie Street, London E1 8DE Tel: 020 7264 0350 Web: www.guisesolicitors.co.uk Email: tonyguise@guisecolicitors.co.uk 11 of 30 Biographies Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes The Reform Debate: Debate the issues raised by The Honourable Mr Justice Ramsey. An expert panel including Nick Rowles-Davies of Vannin Capital, Andy Ellis of Practico and Susan Scott of Practical Law. Moderated by David Chalk, CLAN Executive member David Chalk Faculty Head of Research Knowledge Exchange in Business Law and Sport, University of Winchester David was the founding Head of Law from 2006 to 2009 having joined the University from Anglia Ruskin University where he was Principal Lecturer in Law. He has taught law at undergraduate level for over 30 years and has also taught at Masters level and at the vocational stage for both barristers (BVC) and solicitors (LPC). He is also an established presenter for solicitors’ continuing professional education. David’s main undergraduate teaching is in the law of contract and he also teaches criminal law and skills such as mooting and negotiation. At the practitioner level his subject is dispute resolution and particularly litigation costs a field in which he has been very active for over ten years. Email: Phone: Address: David.Chalk@winchester.ac.uk 01962 827 599 Holm Lodge, 11 University of Winchester, Sparkford Road, Winchester , Hampshire SO22 4NR Andy Ellis Managing Director, Practico Ltd Andy is the owner of Practico Ltd. and founded the Company with co-Directors Kevin Wonnacott and Paul Virtue in October 2011. A Costs Lawyer and law graduate with over 20 years' experience in civil costs, Andy leads Practico's efforts to recast costs drafting as a fully-fledged costs management service. His own practice continues to involve strategic and hands-on consultancy on the costs issues flowing from high profile cases including the recently concluded Motto v Trafigura for Leigh Day and the far-reaching NGN Voicemail Interception litigation for Linklaters. Outside work Andy is a regular with Kevin at the local gym and a frustratingly inconsistent golfer. Tel: Email: 020 8518 8484 aellis@practico.co.uk Web: Twitter: www.practico.co.uk @costs2 12 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Nick Rowles-Davies Consultant, Vannin Capital Nick is admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales, and in the British Virgin Islands. He is an accredited mediator and member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has a wide range of experience in commercial and civil litigation issues and in private practice specialised in complex, high value matters that led to his involvement in a number of reported cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords. For a number of years he was the partner heading up a successful dispute resolution department with a boutique commercial firm in London. Nick has extensive knowledge of the financial and insurance arena having been retained by a number of banks, major insurance companies (including various Lloyd's syndicates) and both on and offshore finance houses. He is a frequent contributor to publications on issues of costs and third party litigation funding and speaks regularly on the subject. Office: E-mail: 01624 615111 jnrd@litigationfunding.com Mobile: Web: 07817 796 149 www.litigationfunding.com Susan Scott PLC Dispute Resolution PLC provides the high-value, practical know-how that fee earners need daily, letting you concentrate on unique expertise and your clients. They employ people who've worked at the front line themselves, working with a team of paralegals and editors and researchers for cross-border and law department services. PLC's professional support teams are not employed as solicitors or barristers and the individuals are not practising. Susan qualified as a solicitor in 1992. She trained with Norton Rose and joined PLC Dispute Resolution in February 2006 from Simmons & Simmons, where she was a member of the commercial litigation department, specialising in professional negligence disputes. She has broad litigation experience (including multi-party actions and trials) and has acted extensively for insurers and a wide range of insured professionals. Susan is currently a non-practising solicitor. Tel: 020 3423 6537 Email: beverley.barton@practicallaw.com Web: www.practicallaw.com 13 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Working for Free? Assessing Clients and Opponents to Minimise Risk. With more and more solicitors taking on risk, whether as Conditional Fee Agreements or Damages Based Agreements, understanding risk has never been more important. Red Flag Alert cover all aspects of business activity to assess and monitor the performance of both clients and opponents. Red Flag Alert is a credit risk database with over 6 million records on businesses in the UK, from sole traders through to limited and quoted companies. It covers all aspects of business activity enabling you to target, assess and monitor the performance of customers, suppliers and competitors. Key Benefits: Company health ratings and reports Unique insolvency scoring system Receive real time financial health warnings Minimise the risk of financial loss Identify healthy new business prospects Simple integration and instant online access All delegates will receive a free two-week trail from Red Flag Alert. Elena Tsap Head of Sales, South, Red Flag Alert Elena was educated in Ukraine and graduated from the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas with BA in Economics and Engineering. Over the years Elena has held Account Manager and Head of Business Development roles in both advertising, marketing and sponsorship of global events, winning recognition for her company in the 2010 for Best New Business Awards, Best Business in the Community and Best Business Website. Before joining Red Flag, Elena was Consultant to The RM Group dealing with online business information and financial Information products. Red Flag A!ert LLP, 32 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3BT. Helpdesk: Mobile: 0844 412 6699 07766 758 640 Web: www.redflagalert.com Email: elena.tsap@redflagalert.com 14 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Morning Coffee Break, courtesy of specialist commercial litigation ATE brokers: Richard Myrtle Managing Director, Universal Legal Protection Richard was born in 1957 and has worked in Insurance since graduating from University in 1980. After several years of all-round general insurance training in the City of London, Richard worked as a Lloyd’s Broker specialising in professional indemnity and directors & officers insurance until moving on to Legal Expenses Insurance in 1990. Since 1990, Richard has specialised in all aspects of UK and overseas Legal Expenses Insurance, initially with The Legal Protection Group and then with Abbey Legal Protection, before founding Universal Legal Protection (ULP) in 1999. Richard has built ULP into one of the very few specialist ATE legal expenses Insurance Brokers operating in the UK market, broking the full range of ATE risks, namely Schemes / Facilities for Solicitors, and individual / one-off risks, including some risks requiring very substantial limits of indemnity. Richard’s City of London broking background, experience and contacts have enabled him to source ATE insurance capacity in more insurance markets than just the conventional ATE markets. Richard has also helped his partner and co-director Eamonn Kelly develop ULP in to being one of the leading Pension Trustee Liability Insurance Brokers operating in the UK market. Richard is regularly consulted by the media on trends and developments in the After the Event arena, and is a regular speaker at Conferences. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and is a Chartered Insurance Broker. Universal Legal Protection Ltd, Bedford Heights, Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7PH Tel: 01234 340 266 Email: enquiries@universallegal.co.uk rmyrtle@universallegal.co.uk 15 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Over before its even started? With the new form of CFA available and the option of DBAs revealed, we explore the future for the commercial litigation business model. Contributions from Martin Heskins, Policy Adviser on Civil Justice, Law Society of England and Wales, Neil Mirchandani of Hogan Lovells, Paul Martin of Fasken Martineau in Toronto, and Tom Blackburn of Just Costs Solicitors. Moderator: Professor Rachael Mulheron, Queen Mary University of London Professor Rachael Mulheron BCOM LLB (HONS) LLM (ADV) (UQ) DPHIL (OXON), Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland & High Court of Australia Professor at the Department of Law, Queen Mary University of London. Rachael Mulheron joined Queen Mary’s Department of Law in 2004. Prior to this, she held academic positions at the Law Schools at Notre Dame (Australia) and Warwick University. Professor Mulheron teaches both Torts and the Law of Medical Negligence (for the LLB) and Advanced Medical Negligence (for the LLM and MA), and also offers supervision in Class Actions (for the LLM). She has also lectured annually at Oriel College, University of Oxford, and at the Law Faculty, Catholic University of Lille, France. Prior to her academic career, Professor Mulheron practised law in Brisbane, Australia, both in general practice, and later, specialising in the field of building and construction litigation. Professor Mulheron's primary research interest focuses upon class actions jurisprudence. In May 2009, Professor Mulheron was appointed as a Council Member of the Civil Justice Council of England and Wales, an independent government civil justice advisory and law reform body, for a term of three years, which term was renewed for a further period of three years in 2012. In August 2009, she was appointed as a member of the Civil Procedure Rules Drafting SubCommittee, which was charged with the task of drafting rules of court for a new opt-out collective action regime for England and Wales; and in 2010, she was appointed as a member of the Working Group for Litigation Funding, which was tasked with preparing a Code for Litigation Funders, and which Code was launched by Lord Neuberger MR in November 2011. In 2012, she was appointed as a member of the Working Group for the implementation of Damages-based Agreements (contingency fees) for England and Wales. email: r.p.mulheron@qmul.ac.uk Web: http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/staff/mulheron.html Phone: 020 7882 3959 16 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Over before its even started? With the new form of CFA available and the option of DBAs revealed, we explore the future for the commercial litigation business model. Martin Heskins Policy Advisor on Civil Justice, Law Society of England & Wales Martin Heskins is the Civil Justice Policy Adviser at the Law Society. He is a qualified solicitor with a background of over 29 years in civil litigation acting for claimants and defendants, including personal injury, clinical negligence and actions against the police. In his current role he specialises in policy issues relating to civil litigation, costs and alternative dispute resolution. The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL Tel: 020 7242 1222 Paul Martin Partner, Fasken Martineau (Toronto) Paul Martin is a co-chair of the Class Actions practice group. He has an extensive practice in all aspects of civil, administrative and quasi-criminal litigation at all levels of court in Ontario, with particular emphasis in the areas of class actions, product liability, shareholder rights, employment, financial institutions, insurance, securities regulation, competition, pensions and benefits and intellectual property. He has been counsel in matters before the Federal Court, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Ontario Municipal Board, the Tax Court of Canada, the Ontario Securities Commission, the Commercial Registration Appeal Tribunal, the Pensions Appeal Board and various administrative tribunals. Paul has been an Adjunct Lecturer at Queen's University Faculty of Law where he taught a course on class actions. Honours and Awards: Benchmark Canada, "local litigation star" in Ontario and “litigation star” for class actions in Canada, 2013 Fasken Martineau, Toronto: +1 416 865 4439 Email: pmartin@fasken.com Neil Mirchandani Partner (Securities, Investment Banking and Funds Litigation Group), Hogan Lovells, London Neil is experienced in a broad range of City-related problems such as mergers and acquisitions disputes and financial market problems. He has extensive experience of corporate and regulatory investigations and regulatory disciplinary proceedings. He is also active in a variety of claims for and against professional advisers, including bringing and defending claims for breach of duty, negligent mis-statement and misrepresentation. Neil edits Hogan Lovells' Legal and Financial Risk Newsletter. He has considerable experience of the use of technology in large scale litigation and has presented to members of the judiciary and legal profession in the "Courtroom of the Future" debate and at LegalTech, London. Tel: 020 7296 2000 Emial: neil.mirchandani@hoganlovells.com 17 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Over before its even started? With the new form of CFA available and the option of DBAs revealed, we explore the future for the commercial litigation business model. Contributions from Martin Heskins, Policy Adviser on Civil Justice, Law Society of England and Wales, Neil Mirchandani of Hogan Lovells, Paul Martin of Fasken Martineau in Toronto, and Tom Blackburn of Just Costs Solicitors. Moderator: Professor Rachael Mulheron, Queen Mary University of London Tom Blackburn National Advocacy Manager Just Costs Solicitors Tom Blackburn has extensive industry wide experience including expert knowledge in a wide range of legal costs issues (mediation, audits, ADR, multi jurisdictional cases) acting for a variety of clients. Senior in-house positions have given an extensive experience of all aspects of post CPR issues from the outset of proceedings to recovery of legal costs between the parties, Solicitor/Own client disputes and audits. Tom deals with all costs related issues (Commercial - shipping, IP, fraud, defamation aviation, disaster litigation, PI, Clin Neg etc) for a wide variety of clients - firms of Solicitors, in house Counsel, SME's, businesses, local authorities, charities and governments. He is a regular speaker at conferences and provides specific tailored training to clients. In his position of National Advocacy Manager, Tom oversees all of Just Costs' advocates, providing mentoring, training and assistance where required. He also manages a high profile case load including drafting Bills, Points of Dispute, Replies, Skeleton Arguments, Mediation and Advocacy, however he specialises in multi-million pound cost disputes, audits, multi party actions, complex costs and advocacy. The Just Costs Advocacy team can attend any adversarial arena from County Court to the House of Lords. Tel: 0207 758 2179 Web: www.justcosts.com Email: Twitter: tomblackburn@justcosts.com @tom__blackburn 18 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Lunch, served in the restaurant, courtesy of Omnia Software. Omnia can be used by firms of Solicitors in two ways: As a replacement time and invoicing system into which firms can enter their work in “real time”. Scalable for laptops and tablets (and in due course for smart phones) it ensures that budgets are up to the minute and the danger of inadvertently exceeding budgets is removed As a separate program running alongside firms’ case and practice management systems into which the time spent by fee earners can be imported on a daily (even hourly) basis to achieve the same ends Omnia can also work as a stand alone costing program In whichever mode it can produce bills of costs, schedules for summary assessment, costs schedules & breakdowns and all court costs forms/applications - as well as the all important costs budgets. Budget preparation and monitoring New CPR Rule 3.12 applies mandatory costs budgeting to all multi track cases (other than commercial cases with a value in excess of £2 million) with the purpose of enabling the Court to manage both the steps to be taken and the costs to be incurred by parties so as to further the overriding objective. Omnia assists this task by enabling firms to: Prepare costs budgets in Precedent H; Set alerts for each phase of each budget and for each element of a budget phase to help ensure that budgets are closely monitored and not exceeded; Compare forecast, budgeted and actual costs by each category and sub-category of case to produce median figures for each such category/sub-category and then populate draft budgets; Allow internal or external costs specialists to check and monitor budgets on an on-going basis to ensure work is being accurately assigned; Enable the easy preparation of accurate schedules and breakdowns of costs at any point during the life of a case as well as bills of costs for detailed assessment. 19 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes PR in Law An introduction from Byfield Consultancy, reputation management consultants with particular expertise in legal and professional services. Byfield employ a range of strategic and tactical PR techniques to help companies, organisations and individuals manage their reputations in a constantly evolving business, media and regulatory environment. “Reputation management is a strategic business function that sits at the boardroom level” Richard Elsen Founder, Byfield Consultancy Well known amongst leading journalists for his handling of highly sensitive national and international news stories. His work includes dispute, litigation, crisis and reputation management mandates. Richard was one of the first exponents of litigation PR in the UK. Richard has 20 years PR experience, beginning his career with British Rail, where he handled media relations on issues ranging from privatisation to rail accident crisis management. In 1993, he joined the Press Office of the UK's Labour Party culminating in his becoming Deputy Head of the 'Rebuttal & Attack' media team, at Labour's Millbank headquarters, a post he occupied during the 1997 General Election. In the last decade Richard has handled media aspects of some of the most challenging and high profile civil actions brought before the High Court. He has also lectured on litigation and crisis PR and has written about the topics. Byfield Consultancy, 9 Staple Inn Buildings, London WC1V 7QH Tel: 0207 092 3999 Email: Richard@byfieldconsultancy.com Web: www.byfieldconsultancy.com 20 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Costs Management & Pricing Workshop The perspective from the judiciary: Steven Whitaker A practitioner’s view: David Foster, Partner, Barlow Robbins The practicalities of costs management explored with examples of tools available now to facilitate effective and successful management of costs. Panel: Jim Diamond, Sue Nash of Omnia Software, Ben Hawkins of iCosts and Stuart Ritchie. Moderator: Mark Beaumont, Annecto Legal Ltd & CLAN Executive Member Mark Beaumont Director, Annecto Legal Ltd (& member of the CLAN executive) Mark Beaumont graduated from the University of Manchester with an Economics degree in 1998 and has since developed his career in account management, training and business development. Having joined the new London office of Just Costs Solicitors in 2009, Mark developed the customer base across London and the south of England. His focus has been on seminars and training; raising awareness of alternative funding options and the importance of budgeting effectively. As part of this role Mark has worked closely with ATE insurance providers, funders and other legal services businesses that support litigation. Now a director with Annecto Legal Ltd, Mark is working with a broad range of businesses to give them access to the best litigation services available. One of the key objectives of Annecto is to explain the range of litigation funding and insurance options available to decision makers in the business world. In addition, we will provide clients with access to accredited law firms that are willing to take on cases on a risk-sharing basis (such as fixed fees or payment on success), and also funders, insurers and the full range of litigation support services. We are also working closely with law firms to encourage greater knowledge of the alternatives to 'hourly rate billing' and introduce them to the business development opportunities that these alternatives present. At present, we are speaking with a number of firms and we are happy to be approached by businesses interested in discussing this concept. Annecto Legal Ltd, Sycamore House, London EC1Y 0SG DDI: 0800 612 6587 Mob: 07730 217 643 email: mark.beaumont@annectolegal.co.uk web: www.annectolegal.co.uk 21 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Costs Management & Pricing Workshop The perspective from the judiciary: Steven Whitaker A practitioner’s view: David Foster, Partner, Barlow Robbins The practicalities of costs management explored with examples of tools available now to facilitate effective and successful management of costs. Panel: Jim Diamond, Sue Nash of Omnia Software, Ben Hawkins of iCosts and Stuart Ritchie. Moderator: Mark Beaumont, Annecto Legal Ltd & CLAN Executive Member Steven Whitaker Senior Master of the Senior Courts in the Queen’s Bench Division, The Royal Courts of Justice Master Whitaker is the Senior Master of the Senior Courts of England and Wales in the Queen’s Bench Division, the Queen’s Remembrancer and a former barrister. He manages, amongst other things, the specialist list for mesothelioma and other asbestos related claims at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. He was one of the judicial members of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee of England and Wales from 2002 - 08 and was also a member of one of the judicial advisory groups advising the Secretary of State on the use of IT in the Civil and Family Courts. He is the Honorary President of LiST. He was trained as a mediator by CEDR in 2003 and is one of the General Editors of the White Book and is the Chief Advisory Editor of Atkin's Court Forms. He is the Central Authority for England and Wales under the Hague Conventions and EU Regulations on Service and the Taking of Evidence. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars on e-disclosure, case management and the management of asbestos related claims. David Foster Partner, Barlow Robbins (& member of the CLAN Executive) Qualified in 1988, David handles a range of more complex litigation matters with particular emphasis on professional negligence, insolvency, property and debt recovery litigation handled within his department. David has been involved in a number of high profile cases particularly in the area of judicial review. David is a trained mediator, nationally known, and has been involved in a number of successfully mediated commercial disputes. Barlow Robbins Dispute Resolution team is one of the largest in Surrey and acts for a wide range of businesses. They have recently been chosen for national awards in professional negligence and commercial mediation. Tel: 01483 464243 Email: davidfoster@barlowrobbins.com Web: www.barlowrobbins.com 22 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Costs Management & Pricing Workshop The perspective from the judiciary: Steven Whitaker A practitioner’s view: David Foster, Partner, Barlow Robbins The practicalities of costs management explored with examples of tools available now to facilitate effective and successful management of costs. Panel: Jim Diamond, Sue Nash of Omnia Software, Ben Hawkins of iCosts and Stuart Ritchie. Moderator: Mark Beaumont, Annecto Legal Ltd & CLAN Executive Member Jim Diamond Costs Lawyer, Jim Diamond Ltd Jim has spent over 25 years in the legal industry, working in-house for the likes of Clifford Turner (now Clifford Chance) and Allen & Overy in the 80′s & 90′s. Jim has published articles on the subject for over a decade. Jim’s “Budget Based Billing” article published in Legal 500 in 1999 is thought to be the first ever article published on the subject. Jim has spoken at numerous conferences including the IBC Annual Costs Conference 1998; The Law Society Annual Conference 2003, The Judges & Costs Judges Costs Seminar at the Royal Courts of Justice 2005 and The Commercial Litigation Association Annual Conference 2009. A fellow speaker was Lord Justice Jackson (his first public presentation after his publication of his “Interim Report on Costs in Civil Cases”). Jim was the only individual legal costs lawyer to be invited by The Civil Justice Council to take part in the “Technical Aspects of Jackson Implementation Experts Workshop”. Legal Costs Budgets & Costs Management, 21 Ellis St, LONDON SW1 9AL Web: www.jimdiamond.com Tel: 07826 091 992 Email: jim@jimdiamond.com Twitter: @JIMDIAMONDLEGAL Stuart Ritchie Litigation Solicitor, Hudson & Co. Since 2000 Stuart has spoken irregularly in England and overseas on various IT/legal subjects, and for several years was a non-parliamentary member of the Parliamentary IT Committee after his work won a DTI Smart award for his consulting company. In 2010-11 he automated for his firm the drafting of voucher, summary bill, estimate, and detailed bill / schedule reports from timesheet records. Recently he has expanded this to a full implementation of Chapter 45 of the Jackson report, by developing a client-server costs drafting interface suitable for use by any third party time recording software. In 2013 he has been working with an interested TRS vendor, while upgrading the reports to align them with the 60th Update costs precedents. Email: r.stuart.ritchie@googlemail.com 23 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Costs Management & Pricing Workshop The practicalities of costs management explored with examples of tools available now to facilitate effective and successful management of costs. Panel: Jim Diamond, Sue Nash of Omnia Software, Ben Hawkins of iCosts and Stuart Ritchie. Moderator: Mark Beaumont, Annecto Legal Ltd & CLAN Executive Member Sue Nash Managing Director, Litigation Costs Services & OMNIA Software Sue is a costs lawyer with some 26 years experience of legal costs practice and law. She is Managing Director of full-service costs firm Litigation Costs Services and has particular experience in group litigation costs. She regularly writes on the issues surrounding the Jackson reforms, in particular on costs management and budgeting. She is also the founder of Omnia Legal Software Ltd whose eponymous program has been born out of her experience and understanding of the business aspects of litigation and its associated costs. OMNIA is an innovative web-based program that works as (i) a time recording system (ii) a costs management solution and (iii) a costs drafting program. Parts or all of its functionality can be used by both solicitors and costs draftsmen. Time recording: Solicitors can replace their time recording system with Omnia ensuring “real time” updating of costs budgets as well as the standard management reports that such systems provide. Alternatively, firms can set up an export from their own systems and import all relevant work/data into Omnia on a regular basis. Budgeting: Once the time is in Omnia, it then helps legal practitioners to construct their budgets and, crucially, to monitor them. Firms can set alerts (which can be re-set) on each budget phase and each element of a phase as well as on the overall budget. Users are alerted as soon as they log on and can then take whatever action is necessary. Precedent H forms can be produced and exported to Excel and various versions of the budgets can be recorded and saved. Last but by no means least, Omnia will be able to produce template budgets for future actions based on budgeted time in previous matters which can be filtered by matter type, sub-type and any number of variables. Costs drafting: Work can be input manually or imported from Solicitors’ own time recording systems and then analysed. As well as Precedent H, Omnia will be able to produce all types of civil bills and court cost forms. Omnia Software, St. Johns’ Court, 86 Easton Street, High Wycombe HP11 1LT Tel: 01494 445 739 Web: www.omniasoftware.co.uk Email: enquiries@omniasoftware.co.uk or sue@litigation-costs.co.uk 24 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Costs Management & Pricing Workshop The perspective from the judiciary: Steven Whitaker A practitioner’s view: David Foster, Partner, Barlow Robbins The practicalities of costs management explored with examples of tools available now to facilitate effective and successful management of costs. Panel: Jim Diamond, Sue Nash of Omnia Software, Ben Hawkins of iCosts and Stuart Ritchie. Moderator: Mark Beaumont, Annecto Legal Ltd & CLAN Executive Member Ben Hawkins Managing Director, CLFL Ltd & iCosts Ben Hawkins is a solicitor with an LLB degree. Having practised as a litigation solicitor for six years, Ben Hawkins was a pioneer of after the event insurance, launching DAS’ ATE Insurance division (now 80e) in 2000. He has subsequently enjoyed success developing innovative solutions for the legal profession, notably with Composite Legal Expenses (funded solutions for personal injury claims), Shop4Law (internet marketing) and LexisNexis (information and software solutions). Ben joined CLFL as Director in April 2010 with responsibility for developing the business profitably when he became the Managing Director in May 2010. Commercial Litigation Funding Limited, 65 Tarrant Street, Arundel BN18 9DJ Tel: 01903 889 966 Email: bhawkins@clfl.co.uk 25 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Afternoon Tea courtesy of our partners at Annecto Legal Ltd: Annecto Legal Ltd works with a broad range of businesses, giving them access to the best litigation services available. Annecto will explain the range of litigation funding and insurance options available to decision makers in the business world: Something that they do not always hear from their legal advisor. In addition, we will provide clients with access to accredited law firms that are willing to take on cases on a risk-sharing basis (such as fixed fees or payment on success), and also funders, insurers and the full range of litigation support services. We are also working closely with legal practitioners to encourage greater knowledge of the alternatives to 'hourly rate billing' and introduce them to the business development opportunities that these alternatives present. At present, we are speaking with a number of firms and we are happy to be approached by businesses interested in discussing this concept. Contact Details for Mark Beaumont, one of the directors of Annecto Legal Ltd: DDI: 0800 612 6587 Mob: 07730 217 643 email: mark.beaumont@annectolegal.co.uk web: www.annectolegal.co.uk Annecto Legal Ltd, Sycamore House (Baltic Street West entrance), London EC1Y 0SG. 26 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Mediation and Disclosure in a world of Costs Management Managing e-disclosure and expectations effectively and efficiently, with contributions from Daniel Kavan of Kroll Ontrack, Beverley Barton of Practical Law, Dipti Hunter of DACBeachcroft (& CLAN Executive Member), and Tim Wallis, Mediator. Moderator: Mike Taylor of i-Lit Mike Taylor Managing Director, i-Lit Ltd & i-Lit Paralegals Ltd Called to the Bar in 1998, Michael Taylor spent the first 4 years of his career working on 2 high profile public inquiries, initially the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry into complex paediatric heart surgery and subsequently on the Inquiry into the unlawful activities of Harold Shipman. Michael moved into private practice for Clarke Willmott in Bristol where he managed the MultiParty Action Department before moving to the Legal Technology service provider Kroll Ontrack. As a Legal Consultant at Kroll Ontrack it was Michael’s responsibility to advise clients as to suitable solutions to their e-disclosure requirements as well as give educational seminars and lectures to Lawyers and Litigation Support Managers on the subjects of e-disclosure, paper disclosure, and computer forensics. Since setting up i-Lit Limited in 2006 Michael has advised law firms law firms, multi-national corporations and government departments on electronic disclosure, paper disclosure, computer forensics and large scale document review. Michael has had articles published in many newspapers and periodicals as well as speaking at many seminars, lectures and conferences. Tel: 01748 810 221 Email: mtaylor@i-lit.co.uk Mobile: Web: 07766 240766 www.i-lit.co.uk Beverley Barton Editor, PLCDispute Resolution Beverley qualified as a solicitor in 1993. She trained at Linklaters, where she stayed for six years following qualification, working on a wide range of general commercial litigation cases, including a number involving competition law issues. Subsequently, at CMS Cameron McKenna and Arnold & Porter, she practised as a litigator in a team specialising in pharmaceuticals-related work, and gained valuable trial experience on cases including Re Medicaments, the last ever case in the Restrictive Practices Court. In 2005, she moved to the role of litigation Professional Support Lawyer: first at Eversheds, and then at Bond Pearce. She joined PLC as an Editor in the Dispute Resolution team in October 2008. Beverley is currently a non-practising solicitor. Tel: 020 3423 6537 Email: beverley.barton@practicallaw.com Web: www.practicallaw.com 27 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Mediation and Disclosure in a world of Costs Management Managing e-disclosure and expectations effectively and efficiently, with contributions from Daniel Kavan of Kroll Ontrack, Beverley Barton of Practical Law, Dipti Hunter of DACBeachcroft (& CLAN Executive Member), and Tim Wallis, Mediator. Moderator: Mike Taylor of i-Lit Daniel Kavan Managing Director Electronic Disclosure Consultancy Kroll Ontrack Daniel and his team advise lawyers and their clients on how to effectively manage electronically stored documents in litigation, arbitration, and internal or regulatory investigations. Daniel provides consultancy and training to assist clients with the identification, preservation, collection, review and analysis of potential evidence in document-intensive cases. Daniel advises clients on strategies and techniques to help lawyers deploy technology efficiently and cost-effectively, as well as assisting them in the design of practical workflow processes and the selection of the technical solutions required to fulfil these goals. He is frequently called on to comment on best practices and new developments in electronic disclosure law. Daniel has extensive experience working on international commercial litigation matters, competition law inquires and internal investigations, particularly in the areas of fraud and bribery. He often assists lawyers in identifying potential sources of evidence, and has experience in on-site scoping exercises and witness interviews in a variety of corporations, industries and jurisdictions, including the UK, USA, Germany and Italy. Prior to joining Kroll Ontrack, Daniel worked as a litigation solicitor in Australia and has had litigation support roles in London at several international law firms. During this time, he has employed a variety of market-leading technologies in numerous document-intensive electronic disclosure exercises. Twitter: Email: @DanKavanLegal dkavan@krollontrack.co.uk Tel: 020 7549 9600 Tim Wallis Mediator, Expedite Resolution Ltd Tim Wallis is an independent mediator (1994) and a solicitor (1976). A director of Expedite Resolution and Trust Mediation, Tim mediates a range of commercial and insurance related claims and disputes for these and other organisations. He is the Independent Chairman of Claims Portal Limited and of the ABI GTA Technical Committee (Credit Hire). Tim is a member of the Civil Justice Council (CJC) and chairs its ADR Working Party. A member of the Editorial Advisory Board of OUP’s “The Jackson ADR Handbook” (published April 2013) Tim contributes to the ADR section of "The White Book" and other publications. Email: tim.wallis@expediteresolution.com Tel: 07971 125 946 (or 0844 879 3166) Web: www.expediteresolution.com 28 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Mediation and Disclosure in a world of Costs Management Managing e-disclosure and expectations effectively and efficiently, with contributions from Daniel Kavan of Kroll Ontrack, Beverley Barton of Practical Law, Dipti Hunter of DACBeachcroft (& CLAN Executive Member), and Tim Wallis, Mediator. Moderator: Mike Taylor of i-Lit Dipti Hunter Associate, DACBeachcroft Dipti has a wide-ranging commercial and corporate litigation practice. In the last few years, the focus of Dipti's practice has been on managing large-scale proceedings which often have an international dimension, for example advising clients on the fraudulent aspects of schemes to dilute shareholdings, advising on the shar'iah compliance of a disputed Wakala Agreement and consideration of the manipulation of the insolvency of an offshore holding company to hide fraudulent actions of former directors. Dipti has acted for clients in the Middle East, USA, Africa, Europe, Australia as well as for corporate clients registered offshore. Dipti also has experience of intellectual property and partnership disputes. She regularly works with clients in the technology and financial services sectors. Dipti specialises in civil fraud claims and has conducted several indirect tax fraud cases in relation to Missing Trader Intra Community fraud including proceedings for Judicial Review. She has wide ranging experience of applying for both Freezing orders and Search and Seizure Orders in the High Court. In addition, she acts as a Supervising Solicitor for other law firms. Dipti is a member of the London Solicitors' Litigation Association, the Commercial Litigation Association and the Fraud Advisory Panel. Tel: 020 7894 6253 Web: www.dacbeachcroft.com Email: dhunter@dacbeachcroft.com 29 of 30 Patron: Right Honourable The Lord Woolf of Barnes Networking Drinks in the lobby, courtesy of our partners at Byfield Consultancy: Litigation & Dispute PR Litigation and Dispute PR is about managing the impact of a conflict on staff, clients, the media and other stakeholders through planned and thoughtful communications. Mishandled disputes can cause a decline in staff moral, client dissatisfaction and the wrong kind of media interest. High profile disputes that are likely to result in litigation require sensitive handling to minimise and manage these risks and reduce the potential of serious and enduring harm to the reputation of a company or individual. Often, organisations are slow to identify the attendant dangers of potentially high profile disputes. Pyrrhic victories are won in the court of law while reputations can be lost in the court of public opinion. We offer market leading expertise in managing communications in times of dispute, working closely with the client’s legal team, to seamlessly dovetail stakeholder communications into the legal strategy. We are acutely aware of the need for contempt avoidance, understand the legal process and, importantly, the legal status of information of and documentation. At Byfield we believe that good litigation and dispute PR requires an intimate understanding of the law and legal process. 30 of 30