Downturn spells upturn for international litigation

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.