London International Disputes Week 2024 ‘Uniting for Global Challenge and Opportunity’

Nearly 8000 delegates. 100 jurisdictions represented.  Over 150 events.  London International Disputes Week 2024 surpassed even our most ambitious expectations.  Little did we think that our theme,  ‘Uniting for Global Challenge and Opportunity’, would be so brought to life in the way that it was at LIDW24.

The week was so rich in content, discussion and themes that it is difficult to give it justice in this short blog but I think three themes from the week were apparent.

I dread to think how many hours and hours of unpaid time went into the production of LIDW24 but, judging by the numbers of attendees, the breadth of topics that were discussed and the feedback we’ve received, every minute was worthwhile.

The production of LIDW, a week long gathering of the international and domestic dispute resolution sector in London, is by a band of volunteers drawn from the legal sector including law firms, barristers’ chambers, mediation providers and legal services aided by the brilliant events team at TMB Events who keep us on the straight and narrow and make sure we don’t get too carried away!  Member events have to be hosted by two or more firms; firms who might more often fight each other across the courtroom work together to produce interesting and impactful events for a global audience.  Rather than fiercely protecting their clients from the competition, the firms and chambers involved brought them to events, interviewed them and invited them to dinner with other firms.

A call for greater collaboration between the litigation, mediation and arbitration communities was one of the calls to action from the Lady Chief Justice in her keynote speech at the main conference.  She suggested that a future “London Dispute Resolution Committee” might be a forum in which the three sectors could come together.  Of course, to us, as mediators, the idea that something positive can come from bringing people together is obvious but it hasn’t typically been the way that the legal sector operates.  LIDW is, perhaps, proof of the magic of collaboration - litigators, arbitrators, mediators, sponsors - all working together to a common goal that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The importance of coming together to learn from each other is at the heart of LIDW.  As Rachel Muldoon said in a discussion about AI and its impact on the sector “If we don’t adapt as a sector we will die”.  Bringing people together to share ideas and approaches is one of the huge benefits to LIDW - we all have something to contribute and much to learn during the course of the week.

The first event I attended on International Arbitration Day was a panel discussion on arbitration in India - 4 out of 5 of the panellists were practitioners in India, including former Justice of the Indian Supreme Court who discussed, amongst other issues,  the intricacies of the role of arbitration in the domestic market.  The fact that an audience in London can participate and learn from these discussions is hugely beneficial to those with an interest in the topic.

Another event I attended involved practitioners from the UK, India, Finland and Italy debating the merits of and role of mediation in their civil justice system.  The comparisons drawn and the identification of what works and what does not will all help in the debates as to how our civil justice systems can adapt to provide a better access to justice and more effective and efficient dispute resolution to parties.

These are only two examples of sessions where the cross-fertilisation of ideas and best practice were presented and debated - there were many more in the 148 member hosted events during the week and I, for one, have come away from the week energised by new ideas and connections.

When I was first involved in the organisation of LIDW mediation was, perhaps, mentioned once in one session at main conference and not really on the agenda at other events.  This year, the signs of a cultural change were strongly evident.  Mediation (and other forms of negotiation dispute resolution) featured strongly in the Lady Chief Justice’s speech and Meg Kinnear, Secretary of ICSID talked of the hope of an increased use of mediation in the context of international arbitration.  The ex-Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard AC and Lord Peter Goldsmith KC debated mediation and other forms of dispute resolution in the context of disputes involving States and State entities.  Many of the member hosted events I attended considered different means of resolving disputes and did not limit the conversation to a single method of dispute resolution.

Across the week I met people from various jurisdictions who had similar reports from their domestic jurisdictions - a greater emphasis on using different tools and means to provide a better and more effective dispute resolution process for disputants.

Of course, there is also cultural change at work in the way that disputes are handled with the advent and development of various forms of legal technology to assist in the process of dispute resolution - whether that is by automating processes, providing data to disputants or providing cheaper or more accessible means of dispute resolution.  Whereas in previous years AI was mentioned as a vague concept it is now clear that AI plus other forms of technology are leading to a cultural change in the management and resolution of disputes.  The pace of change is rapid and we all need to work together to harness its benefits and be aware of its possible disadvantages.

We are already looking forward to LIDW25 and planning how we can build on the success of this year’s edition.  I have one more year as Co-Chair  - the thought of producing something even bigger and better than this year’s event is certainly quite an intimidating one!  So I ask you - what do you want to hear about, debate, discuss? If you have ideas please do not hesitate to get in touch!