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Chris Bryden and Georgia Whiting of 4 King’s Bench Walk lament the industry’s reluctance to adopt mediation more enthusiastically than it has. There is much to gain, and little to lose, by using mediation to resolve disputes, they argue.

The latest Red Flag Alert research by Begbies Traynor for Quarter 2 of 2021 has recorded 650,000 businesses in the UK in ‘significant financial distress’. However, this number has fallen 10% since the highest recorded number of significantly distressed businesses which were recorded in Quarter 1  (723,000).

One of the biggest costs for legal firms continues to be Professional Indemnity Insurance and it’s one which many are seeing rise, year-after-year. The situation isn’t new but it has now been confirmed as the hardest market for indemnity cover since demutualisation over 20 years ago* and it’s certainly taking its toll. With premium increases of between 5% and 50% being regarded as ‘typical’, how can firms manage this situation? To make matters even more challenging, some insurance companies are now seeking personal guarantees and demanding that policy excesses be paid into escrow.

When undertaking any litigation support case, it is essential to firstly ascertain whether the other party has assets worth pursuing and whether any enforcement action is likely to succeed.

It is fair to say that there has, for many years, been a “difference of opinion” between the law governing personal insolvency and matrimonial law with each “side” believing that they are right and should take precedence. The principal, sometimes conflicting, legislation is covered in the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. However, the differing courts can and will give wide discretion when determining whether and how a married couple’s assets are to be divided.