As business disputes grow in size and complexity, would a specialised court with expert judges that is designed to speed up rulings and the appeals process be a good idea in the US? This was one of the topics at a recent discussion given by Sir William Blair, known in the courts as Justice Blair, at the New York offices of Brown Rudnick last week (22 September).

Blair – the older brother of former Prime Minister Tony Blair – explained the origin of the UK's Financial List, a specialist cross-jurisdictional list set up last year to address the particular business needs of parties litigating on financial matters.

It draws on the expertise of judges from both the Chancery and the Queen's Bench Divisions, with the objective of ensuring that cases that would benefit from being heard by judges with a specialism in financial markets work will be streamlined and managed by a single specialist judge.

The Financial List was created in October 2015 to hear and rule on complex business cases worth more than £50m, hearing disputes in areas such as equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, derivatives and the commodities markets, as well as complex banking transactions and sovereign debt.

"We thought it was right for us because we get a disproportionate number of financial disparities because we [London] are a financial centre," said Blair. "It's natural for us to think particularly of financial disputes because whereas here you have a vast economy that is generating commercial disputes right across the board, ours tend to be more specialised," he added.

The aim of the list is to resolve disputes quickly and definitely according to Blair, and an appeal can often be heard within days of the case's first ruling.

With cases heard at the Rolls Building in London, 12 judges sit on the bench, including five from the commercial courts, led by Justice Blair, and five from the Chancery Division.

"So far, the cases range from derivatives to sovereign debt to the rights of trustees in financial transactions. I wouldn't say there is a theme [to the Financial List cases] but there are quite a number of derivatives cases in our courts and in yours," added Blair.

Since its creation in 2015, the Financial List heard eight cases in its first year and has ruled on 13 cases so far this year.

"These are cases that demand a high degree of specialisation to decide," said Justice Blair.

Would a Financial List work in New York in the same way that it works in London? David Molton, a litigation and arbitration partner at Brown Rudnick, is doubtful.

"Here in the US I think often we learn from what happens in London and sometimes they learn from us as well. In terms of what Justice Blair said about the fact that London has a more particular need for a sophisticated specialised financial court, I think is probably true and less apparent here and less needful here," Molton said.

He added: "Our federal judges who get these cases all the time handle them quite competently and expertly. Also the commercial bench of the New York State Supreme Court does a terrific job dealing with these sort of cases. I think that likely the need for a specialised financial bench is less apparent here than it would be in England."

Neil Micklethwaite, a litigation and arbitration partner in Brown Rudnick's London and Paris offices, said the discussion was never meant to promote the idea of a Financial List in New York.

"I think [the meeting was inspired by] the connection between New York and London. Cooperation and exchange of knowledge is a very important part of that," said Micklethwaite. "It's for New York to decide whether it wants to say that this would work for them."

The Honourable Mr Justice Blair is the keynote speaker at the Legal Week Commercial Litigation & Arbitration Forum, which will take place in London on 3 November. Click here for full details.