United Kingdom: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration

The Government's plans to modernise criminal disclosure through artificial intelligence promise efficiency but raise fundamental questions about transparency and fairness. As AI systems begin reviewing millions of digital records in criminal investigations, the challenge shifts from finding material to understanding how technology determines what matters—and whether those decisions can be meaningfully scrutinised when trial fairness depends on it.

Generative AI is transforming legal discovery by enabling machine-first, human-verified workflows that promise unprecedented speed and efficiency. However, the real challenge lies not in the technology's capability to process vast volumes of data, but in strategically deploying senior legal expertise to ensure reviews remain both defensible and valuable.

This is the first article in our new series “From data to direction: using AI in litigation/investigations”. We’ll explore rapidly evolving AI-enabled capabilities, the power of combining tools and technologies and how you can effectively manage and analyze your data sources.

Discover how in-house legal teams are approaching litigation strategy in 2025, from viewing disputes as operational necessities to leveraging alternative funding and managing geopolitical risks. Our comprehensive survey of 81 businesses reveals the evolving priorities shaping legal decision-making across industries.

Explore comprehensive legal insights and expert commentary from Irwin Mitchell, covering key sectors and legal topics. Discover how in-house legal teams are navigating litigation priorities, managing risk, and leveraging external expertise in an evolving legal landscape.

August 2026 brought significant developments in property litigation, from the Upper Tribunal's willingness to discharge restrictive covenants that no longer serve practical purposes, to the Supreme Court's landmark ruling limiting technical challenges to Right to Manage claims. These decisions reshape how landlords, leaseholders, and developers navigate covenant disputes, service charge recovery, and RTM procedures.

International arbitration awards face enforcement challenges when parties claim procedural unfairness under Article V(1)(b) of the New York Convention. Courts worldwide grapple with defining what constitutes being "unable to present a case" while balancing minimum fairness standards against the finality of arbitral awards.

When construction project correspondence refers to items being "agreed," does this create a legally binding contract variation? The Technology and Construction Court examined whether email exchanges...

The High Court has quashed a planning permission for a high-rise development in the Chiswick House Conservation Area, finding that the council's planning committee was materially misled about the merits of an earlier approved fallback scheme. The judgment establishes important principles about how local planning authorities must accurately represent Inspector's findings from appeal decisions when considering new applications, particularly where those findings differ from officer assessments.

Eversheds Sutherland provides comprehensive legal services through a global network of separate and distinct legal entities. The firm's website offers access to legal professionals, insights on international arbitration, workplace technology deployment, and sovereign immunity cases, while maintaining clear disclaimers about the general information nature of its materials.

The UK Supreme Court's narrow 3-2 decision in The Kingdom of Bahrain v Shehabi denies state immunity to foreign governments accused of remotely hacking individuals within UK territory, establishing that cyber surveillance operations causing harm to UK residents fall outside traditional immunity protections. This landmark ruling clarifies the territorial tort exception under the State Immunity Act 1978 and may expose foreign states to liability for state-sponsored cyberattacks targeting UK-based individuals

The UK Supreme Court has ruled on whether sovereign states can invoke immunity to resist enforcement of adverse ICSID arbitration awards in English courts. Spain and Zimbabwe challenged the registration...