The COVID-19 pandemic will have long-lasting effects on our society and economy. It has already forced us to reevaluate how we socialize, work and conduct business, and has fundamentally changed the way we resolve disputes and administer justice.
While the enforced, temporary changes to our lifestyle and the economy are likely to be reversed as soon as it is safe to do so, in our view, many of the changes made to the way we resolve disputes brought about by COVID-19 should not be reversed. Instead, the relevant authorities and the legal community should take the opportunity to make fundamental changes to the way disputes are resolved for the benefit of those who pay for and use dispute resolution processes: taxpayers and litigants.
The purpose of this piece is to advocate for such change where appropriate, and to set out potential ways to deal with the challenges arising from such change.