Bird & Bird

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) London-based India litigation head Nick Peacock, who had been with the firm for more than 20 years, has joined Bird & Bird and will head up its international arbitration team from London.

The dispute resolution landscape in the UK is in the midst of significant change. Many consider the reforms to be the most far-reaching civil justice transformations since the 1870’s1 and this is not even taking into account what may happen with Brexit (which we will discuss below).

In my view a global dispute involves various parties, from a number of different countries, litigating or arbitrating issues that frequently span multiple jurisdictions. This could range from parallel proceedings going on in different jurisdictions or substantive proceedings in one jurisdiction with interim relief applications in other jurisdictions or, as is common in international arbitration, where the parties are from different jurisdictions and have chosen a neutral seat and neutral governing law.

In March this year, the UK government served formal notice under Article 50 of The Treaty on European Union (‘EU’) to terminate the UK’s membership of the EU. This starts a two year notice period, which means the UK’s exit (or ‘Brexit’) will most take effect in March 2019. In the meantime, the UK will seek to negotiate the terms of exit and future trading relationships.