Beyond the Horizon: Disputes Reimagined
Executive summary
Imagine a world 10 years from now: picture the pace of technological innovation, the shifting sands of global politics, economies in flux, and the ongoing battle to preserve the environment. The next decade will bring change at a scale and speed unlike anything we have seen before.
The last 10 years alone have brought natural disasters linked to climate change, two Trump presidencies, a global pandemic, supply chain shocks, runaway inflation, the birth of generative AI, and war in Europe. Few of these could have been foreseen – and even fewer fully prepared for. What comes next may be just as hard to predict, but one thing is clear: the environment for global businesses will be more complex, more volatile, and more exposed to disputes than ever.
From regulatory upheaval and the growing influence of activist litigation, to reputational damage amplified by misinformation, to liability battles at the frontier of digital and AI innovation – the scope of disputes is expanding. Barriers to litigation have also fallen, giving new groups access to the courts and widening the risks facing multinational businesses.
For business leaders, this means moving beyond reactive crisis management to proactive planning. Integrated dispute resolution strategies, forward-looking risk management, and horizon scanning for legal and regulatory change will be critical.
Our Disputes Reimagined study is based on scenario planning and international opinion research of 700 business leaders with annual revenues ranging from USD50 million to over USD10 billion. It explores the disputes landscape of the next decade, assessing whether organisations are underestimating the business and legal implications of the future risk scenarios identified, and addressing how they can prepare for what's next. Our research reveals that, while awareness of legal risk is growing, businesses and in-house legal teams may not be doing enough to navigate the risk landscape ahead of them.
Pervasive Protectionism
Our first scenario explores how the prevailing protectionist movement might reshape the disputes landscape over the next decade, as fractured global markets and regulatory divergence are creating fertile ground for fraud, commercial, and regulatory disputes.
39% of business leaders point to constant regulatory change as one of the key drivers of disputes in the decade ahead.
61% of business leaders have taken a 'wait-and-see' approach to disruptive economic policies in the past.
Without a shift towards proactive planning, businesses risk being caught off guard by escalating protectionist measures.
Are businesses ready?
Awareness of legal risk is growing
89% of senior legal and business leaders expect their disputes budget to increase over the next decade.
16% is the average projected disputes budget increase – due to rising legal costs, regulatory shifts, and an increase in disputes.
But risk readiness and disputes budgets are lagging behind
Only 45% of business leaders and GCs rate their current disputes risk management efforts as ‘successful’.
77% of business leaders think that incorporating legal advisers into the strategic decision-making processes will be more crucial than ever for their organisation.
Strong legal oversight is essential for mitigating the likelihood of disputes and to maintain financial stability
66% of business leaders believe that legal involvement at every stage of the strategic decision-making process will reduce the risk of disputes.
67% of business leaders and GCs believe weak legal risk management leads to unsustainable disputes expenses.
In today's ever-changing and fragmented regulatory landscape it's not surprising that regulatory risk is high on the business agenda as well as increases in disputes budgets. But perhaps what is surprising is that only 45% of respondents consider their current risk management efforts to be successful.
Andrew Howell
Partner and Executive Board member, UK
Only when a regulatory notice or litigation lands does it suddenly become real, and then they have no choice but to move.
Natasha Zahid
Arbitration Partner, Disputes and Investigations, MENA
In today's ever changing and fragmented regulatory landscape it's not surprising that regulatory risk is high on the business agenda as well as increases in disputes budgets. But perhaps what is surprising is that only 45% of respondents consider their current risk management efforts to be successful.
Andrew Howell
Partner and Executive Board member, UK
Only when a regulatory notice or litigation lands does it suddenly become real, and then they have no choice but to move.
Natasha Zahid
Arbitration Partner, Disputes and Investigations, MENA
What next?
It's clear from our study that business leaders and their in-house counsel anticipate a rise in disputes risk and are considering whether they need to increase preparedness. At Taylor Wessing, we are already working with clients to anticipate the shifts they need to make to build resilience and agility into their disputes strategies.
The following report sets out our first scenario in more detail and imagines how a prevailing protectionist movement might reshape the disputes agenda over the next decade – and how your business can get ahead of the change.
The changing disputes landscape
The chart below lists the most common types of disputes encountered by organisations in the last 10 years and where they anticipate the greatest increase in the next decade.
Beyond the Horizon: Disputes Reimagined