Litigators are optimistic that flagship court will help lure big-ticket disputes to London. Suzanna Ring reports

With a reported value of $6.5bn (£4.1bn), the high-profile battle between Russian oligarchs Roman Abramovich (pictured) and Boris Berezovsky, which closed last month (19 January), was a fitting opening act for London's new Commercial Court in the Rolls Building.

The case, still awaiting judgment, saw a heavyweight legal line-up including former co-head of Brick Court Chambers, now Supreme Court judge, Jonathan Sumption taking the stage in the flagship building, which brings under one roof the Chancery Division of the High Court, the Admiralty and Commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court (TCC).

As Berezovsky argued that Abramovich had coerced him to sell his stake in Russian oil company Sibneft and aluminium company Rusal without going through the proper channels of consent, demand to follow the dispute proved so high that additional rooms in the court had to be opened for spectators to watch a video link.

So far, the absence of adequate space for all those keen to view the high-profile case has been one of the few criticisms levelled against the new building, located just off London's Fetter Lane.

The building, which is the largest centre for financial, business and property dispute resolution in the world, is intended to cement the UK's reputation as a world leader for disputes, with its opening coming at a time when the Ministry of Justice has touted its willingness to promote the UK's courts and legal services globally.

There is little doubt that the new building will help the cause as it replaces venues in the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) and the drab St Dunstan's House (where the Commercial Court and TCC were primarily based), described by the chair of the Chancery Bar Association, Malcolm Davis-White QC, as "wholly inadequate" and "an embarrassment".

The move is as much about increasing the revenues generated by the UK legal sector by attracting more overseas disputes to the English courts as it is about aesthetics. Housing 31 courtrooms, 11 hearing rooms and 55 consultation rooms as well as three larger 'super courts', the facilities, though equal in number to those previously used in St Dunstan's and the RCJ, use modern IT systems and cater for all trial sizes. With around 50 specialist judges available to hear cases in the building from any of the three divisions, the expectation is that the building should speed up the hearing of the anticipated 20,000 cases expected to come through its doors over the next year.

Herbert Smith litigation partner Ted Greeno (pictured) says: "As a general rule, the quality of a country's public buildings is a measure how it values the institutions that they contain. Housing the Commercial Court and TCC in a drab 1970s office building therefore sent the wrong message.

"Now, with the opening of the Rolls Building, I think the international business community will recognise the UK Government's commitment to invest in and support our commercial legal system, and this can only help to cement London's reputation as a world centre for dispute resolution."

Berwin Leighton Paisner head of commercial litigation Nathan Willmott says: "There are three main factors that tend to influence a client's decision about where to litigate their commercial disputes – the quality and independence of the judges, the administrative efficiency of the court system and – for lower value disputes – the legal costs involved.

"The High Court in London is well known for the quality and independence of its judiciary, but the new building definitely signals to the world the desire to establish higher standards of administrative efficiency."

Bar Council chairman Michael Todd QC comments: "The Rolls Building was, of course, commissioned by the previous administration. [But] this Government has seen the benefit of making that investment in the legal services sector, which consistently is making a substantial contribution to GDP, particularly from the delivery of legal services to international clients."

With a host of high-profile cases lining up to be heard in the new building, including a claim by the Force India Formula One team relating to unpaid fees to a supplier and a dispute between Russian-Israeli tycoon Arkady Gaydamak and his billionaire business partner Lev Leviev, in the short term the building looks likely to be a success.

In the longer term, the court will have to go some way to counter the higher costs of resolving a dispute in London compared with rival global dispute centres. As Hogan Lovells dispute resolution head Patrick Sherrington comments: "London doesn't have the advantage of being inexpensive, which is a negative, so we have to emphasise the positives and, alongside the clarity of English law and the reputation and quality of our judiciary, the Rolls Building will certainly help to do this."

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The Rolls Building – opening act

Acting for Boris Berezovsky – One Essex Court's Laurence Rabinowitz QC; and Addleshaw Goddard.

Acting for Roman Abramovich (pictured) – Former Brick Court Chambers co-head Jonathan Sumption QC (replacing former Brick Court Chambers QC Andrew Popplewell); and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Former Herbert Smith senior partner Lord David Gold also advised on some aspects.

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The Rolls Building – key dates

December 2006 – Government confirms 
plans for a new £25m commercial court.

December 2011 – 16,000 sq m Rolls 
Building, designed by Woods Bagot 
and built by Carillion, formally opens. Developer Delancey bore costs of construction and fittings. Legal & General (L&G) Property acquires Rolls Building for £305m from HBOS and Delancey. Eversheds advises L&G while Mishcon de Reya and Forsters advise HBOS and Delancey.

January 2011 – Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky court hearing ends. Government court service to pay £10.7m annual rent for 30 years before value-added tax, rising by 2.5% a year.

• Related: All rolled together – two affected parties on life in court at the new Rolls Building