Justice Blair-Article-201611031156

Mr Justice Blair, the judge in charge of the Commercial Court, has called on the courts to better embrace technology and make its adoption more cost effective.

Speaking to a packed delegation at the Legal Week Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Forum, held yesterday (3 November) in London's Waldorf Hilton, Blair highlighted technology as an area of the UK courts that is ripe for improvement.

As part of this drive, it is likely that documentation will be filed electronically in some courts in the future.

"Often you must make something compulsory before people start to use it," he told the conference, adding: "Paperless trials are a step away but it is coming, and judges continue to like the use of technology more and more. But they appreciate the technology is expensive and that the parties have to pay for it – cost-effectiveness is a problem."

At the event, which saw him address an audience of more than 100 litigators and arbitrators from private practice, in-house and the Bar, he also discussed the potential problems caused by the Brexit vote and the need for a strong international strategy.

Blair has specialist experience in banking and finance and was chairman of the Commercial Bar Association between 2003 and 2005. He was appointed as a High Court judge in 2008 and previously served as chairman of the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Tribunal.

The forum was co-chaired by Nabarro disputes head Jonathan Warne and Sir Bernard Eder of Essex Court Chambers.

Sessions included a panel debate exploring the consequences of Brexit with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Boris Bronfentrinker, Helen Davies QC of Brick Court Chambers and George Peretz QC of Monckton Chambers.

The event also featured a panel debate on how best to manage clients and costs, led by Norton Rose Fulbright global co-head of international arbitration Mark Baker, BT Group litigation head Dave Hart, and Elmar Kutsch, a senior lecturer in risk management at the international centre for programme management at Cranfield School of Management.

Meanwhile, White & Case partner David Goldberg discussed how to manage disputes in CIS countries, including how to deal with new Russian arbitration laws, while Steven Gee QC, a partner at Joseph Hage Aaronson, spoke about interim remedies.

The conference delegation included representatives from Lloyds Banking Group, Rolls-Royce, RBS and Royal Mail, among others.