Economic difficulties are generating disputes on a large scale. How will the UK's new Commercial Court interact with other jurisdictions going forward? Clare Canning and Kate Elsmore report

Much time and attention has been devoted to considering the relative minutiae of the conduct of proceedings in the Commercial Court since the establishment of the Commercial Court Long Trials Working Party over two years ago. The result is the now amended Commercial Court Guide – the Admiralty and Commercial Courts Guide (8th edition, 2009), published on 18 May, 2009.

To recap, the working party was set up in January 2007, following criticism of the Commercial Court's handling of a few large-scale commercial disputes. The idea was to consider all aspects of the management of heavyweight and complex litigation in the Commercial Court. Following consideration by the working party, its recommendations were implemented in a Commercial Court pilot scheme.