It's time the people sued

Just when most lawyers thought they were doing well to keep their clients out of court, some curious news is revealed.

According to one big city firm there has been a rise in the number of claims issued in the Commercial Court (a specialist court within the High Court).

Let’s look at these figures in more detail, as these are undoubtedly complex cases which raise difficult legal issues. The Commercial Court, as noted above, is a specialist court which hears various claims - for example export or import of goods; the carriage of goods by land, sea, air, insurance and re-insurance; banking and financial services; the purchase and sale of commodities. Such claims are often dealt with by large multination firms as they are not your average contractual dispute in the County Court!

But let us look behind these figures. The Ministry of Justice Court Statistics Quarterly October to December 2013 noted :

2. Historically, between 3.0% and 3.5% of all claims issued have gone to hearing or trial.

4. Between October and December 2013 a total of 170,408 judgements were made.