Pretty much everyone agrees that the current state of disclosure has grown into an unworkable and extortionate mess… but getting consensus for change has been elusive in recent years. Braving the debate between the supporters of Rolls-Royce disclosure and its critics, reforms are currently being pushed through to substantially scale back document-hunting in most commercial disputes.
The reforms, which were drafted by a group of lawyers, judges and clients called the Disclosure Working Group, will scrap the standard regime in favour of ‘basic’ and ‘extended’ approaches. The system will default to the ‘basic’ disclosure, which will see parties produce only the key documents necessary to the case. Both parties will then be obliged to discuss the manner of extended disclosure, with the court making the final decision to widen the process. The group was chaired by Lady Justice Gloster and included Simmons & Simmons partner Ed Crosse (pictured), Vodafone law chief Rosemary Martin and RPC partner Tim Brown.
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