A high-level working group will be created to recommend commercial litigation reforms after a group of senior judges and lawyers met this week to debate measures to avoid a repeat of BCCI-style court collapses.

The invitation-only summit, chaired by the Commercial Court's head judge Mr Justice David Steel, on Monday (30 October) attracted about 100 senior lawyers, including Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips and the Master of Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke.

The unusual one-day event was arranged in response to controversial 'super cases' such as those involving BCCI and Equitable Life, which attracted fierce criticism due to the high costs and delays of the UK courts in handling such commercial litigation.

The cross-profession working party charged with drawing up a reform agenda was being finalised as Legal Week went to press, with a group of senior Commercial Court judges due to meet on Wednesday (1 November) to appoint its members.

The group will consider a number of proposals aired at Monday's debate, including calls for greater case management power, tighter timetables for litigation and restrictions on both disclo-sure of electronic material and the length of witness statements.

The debate also drew renewed calls for specific judges to be allocated cases at an earlier date, a move towards 'cradle to the grave' case management.

Senior lawyers to attend the summit included Clifford Chance (CC) partner and president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association Simon Davis, Commercial Bar Association chair Robin Knowles QC and Herbert Smith litigation chief Sonya Leydecker.

Court users were represented by Lloyd's legal chief Sean McGovern and Royal Bank of Scotland litigation head Stephen Pearson.

A large number of written submissions were also considered. Crucially, London's most highlyregarded litigation firm, Herbert Smith, issued a call for substantive reform in a formal submission that dubbed the UK courts "expensive, unwieldy and unpredictable".

As reported on legalweek.com (30 October), key measures recommended by Herbert Smith included the appointment of two judges drawn from a specific pool to be assigned to all heavyweight commercial litigation.

Herbert Smith's Leydecker commented: "The current system militates against predictability, swiftness and cost-effectiveness in the most complex cases.

"Having better informed judges to manage these cases more proactively would go a significant way towards addressing the problems and helping preserve the reputation England's Commercial Court still has around the world."

CC's Davis told Legal Week: "The symposium was a very frank exchange of views between customers and suppliers.

"The Commercial Court obviously takes its reputation very seriously and the action planned highlights that."