Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution is practiced in all areas of the legal profession from the large City firms to the smaller local firms and niche practices. This course provides a broad understanding of the dispute resolution process and will enable you to enjoy and get the most out of your litigation seat.

The course aims to give you the confidence to undertake essential litigation tasks with minimal supervision and will help you to develop key skills such as the ability to:

• Identify the client's priorities and whether legal remedies will achieve the best result
• Use the procedural rules (the "CPR") which govern how civil litigation is conducted effectively and with confidence
• Make good tactical choices about which procedures best suit your client's needs; and
• Devise effective action plans and prepare well drafted documentation to help you to make the most effective use of the litigation and dispute resolution processes

Although the skills outlined above are at the forefront of this course, we study them in the context of topics that arise frequently in both general and commercial litigation practice. For example we look at:

• Mediation and other forms of ADR
• Injunctions, including freezing injunctions and search orders
• Cross-border disputes

These are topics with which any solicitor should have some familiarity.

Sometimes the most effective means of resolving a dispute is not by litigation at all, but by the use of one of the methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Our course recognises the growing importance of ADR in practice. We consider different methods of ADR and the Courts' approach to ADR generally. We also include an extended mediation role play to illustrate the working of this most popular form of ADR.

The content of the full-time and part-time course is identical, but they are structured differently.