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NLJ this week: The environmental cost of dispute resolution

21 April 2023
Issue: 8021 / Categories: Legal News , Environment , ESG , Procedure & practice , CPR
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Dispute resolution uses an astonishing amount of carbon resources, and it’s time to make it more environmentally sustainable, barrister Dr Mike Wilkinson and commercial director of AI-powered litigation platform TrialView, Eimear McCann write in this week’s NLJ.

Wilkinson, of 18 St John Street Chambers, and McCann, who is a former lawyer, put the case for a profession-wide change of approach. They set out practical measures to reduce carbon and explain the issue, recommend potential solutions and advocate for change. Incredibly, according to the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations, the average international arbitration takes nearly as many as 20,000 trees to offset (although, as offsetting is itself deeply problematic, it is always better to reduce emissions in the first place).

If the environmental reasons don’t change behaviour, however, then client-driven imperatives might. Wilkinson and McCann write: ‘Increasingly, corporate clients are operating within an environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework and are beholden to their stakeholders. They may have contractual commitments to endeavour to reduce their emissions; their funding may even have been subject to such commitments. Increasingly, regulations require companies to report on their carbon emissions and transition plans, and shareholders may call for more environmentally responsible behaviour.’ 

Read the full article on making litigation greener here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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