High Court Commercial Disputes 2023
Geopolitical, pandemic and economic events loomed large over English High Court litigation in 2023. Discover the complete picture of the last year’s legal landscape in Solomonic’s Year in Review 2023, now available.
Solomonic, the UK’s leading litigation data and analytics platform, has released its review of commercial litigation in the High Court in 2023. The report explores the dynamics on over 7,500 newly issued claims, the actors who have participated in them and the more than 2,050 law firms that were instructed throughout the year.
High value aviation leasing claims triggered by the Russo-Ukrainian war, insurance policy fallout from the pandemic and the general economic climate all made their mark in a year which began slowly, but became busier towards the end and turned out just 1% down on 2022.
If commercial disputes were generally consistent in volume with the previous year, Insolvencies were the opposite, with winding up petitions continuing to drift upwards through most of the year and peaking in September before flattening slightly.
While insurers were busy, the financial sector was doubly so as a range of disputes made it the highest volume sector and the busiest year for banking and finance teams since 2014.
The big beasts of English litigation, the top 30 firms, accounted for 26% of the work, extremely consistent with past years, but there was change in their makeup, with a turnover of 30% (9 firms) in the list. Heavy hitters Clyde & Co continue to dominate while HFW make a return to the table. RPC, DWF and DAC Beachcroft all feature in the top 10.
Value wise, the big aviation claims helped Dechert, Herbert Smith Freehills, HFW and Weightmans to the top of the high average value claims list.
For the first time Solomonic has ranked barristers’ chambers and 4 New Square pips Fountain Court to the top position.
Edward Bird, Solomonic CEO, commented, “global events cast a long shadow and this is evident in 2023 commercial litigation. Despite a slow start it turned into an equally busy year for litigators. The top firms have again been consistently active, with some churn, while competition and group actions declined after the PACCAR decision, though we doubt this is more than a temporary hiatus.”
This is only half the story. Download the full report to see data on judges and judgments, claim length, court efficiency, and expert evidence.