It hardly seems a year ago that I was writing a commentary on the state of the UK disputes market and predicting that the only certain thing about the landscape was its unpredictability. At that time, I assumed that vaccines would be the panacea for Covid and that the whole rotten ordeal would be over by now. Furthermore, I felt that the fallout would quickly become obvious. I was wrong in making those assumptions. That said, by reading a combination of the tea leaves and observing the market, I do think it is possible to detect some discernible trends for the near future.
First and foremost the expected explosion of insolvency litigation did not quite happen in 2021. My firm view is that it will later this year, with the slow burn finally igniting. A gush of government money took the edge off the expected tidal wave of corporate and personal bankruptcies and emergency measures (especially in relation to property matters) continued to stem the tide. These short-term bits of sticky plaster will not have stopped the dam from bursting and the cracks are finally beginning to emerge. When this happens (perhaps triggered by damaging inflationary consequences) there will be a host of disputes and with it, the usual array of accompanying mayhem, typically in the form of emerging frauds.
