London International Disputes Week

A dispute resolution collective of leading lawyers, firms and professional bodies will stage a major four-day event in London this summer.

London International Disputes Week (7–10 May) aims to bring together legal practitioners from around the world to celebrate London’s heritage as a disputes centre and to consider the future of dispute resolution.

It has the backing of the judiciary and central government, and is timed to promote the status of English law and dispute resolution in the wake of Brexit.

Offering her support to the event, Dame Elizabeth Gloster, former Lady Justice of Appeal, said: ‘London has long been a respected centre for handling disputes, but this is not a time for complacency.

‘The event will provide our great city with the opportunity to showcase our heritage, whilst looking ahead to the future and how we will adapt, evolve and progress.’

The Week will include a flagship one-day conference entitled ‘London international disputes: present and future’, and 18 technical sessions on disputes topics at venues across central London.

It was planned as a result of conversations across London’s legal community in late 2017 and early 2018.

Barry Fletcher, head of the dispute resolution group and head of arbitration at LexisNexis, explains: ‘Given London’s position as arguably the world’s leading seat of arbitration, conversations were being had across London, including within the Lexis®PSL Arbitration Consulting Editorial Board, on the merits and demerits of a London Arbitration Week (or LAW) and post-Brexit dispute resolution. When those parallel conversations merged it became apparent quickly that celebrating London’s broader role in global dispute resolution was the more important, if more daunting, task.’