header-logo header-logo

24 July 2008
Issue: 7331 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
printer mail-detail

Downturn spells upturn for international litigation

Legal news update

International litigation will boom during the credit crunch, an expert in competition law claims.

Professor Alan Riley of The City Law School, London says that flawed business models which may look fine in climbing markets are exposed in harsher economic times, and as a result “all sides head to the courts or arbitrators”.

“As the credit crunch bites all the chickens will come home to roost,” he says. Pointing to examples of cases such as Enron, Parmalat and Vitamins, Riley says young lawyers need to be equipped with relevant, up to date and industry- focused training. To this end, the City Law School has launched a new LLM in international dispute resolution, a course which it says will kit out students with the skills necessary to work in high-level international litigation, with modules including international antitrust legislation, international arbitration and project finance. Riley says: “The City Law School is strongly focused on international commercial law and as such we must respond to global economic developments. Our international litigation courses will provide our students with a rounded view of theory and practice, enabling them to work on the complex cases which are sure to arise over the next year
or so.”

The school has also created 15 new places on its international commercial law LLM programme in response to student demand.

Issue: 7331 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
back-to-top-scroll