Freshfields Annual Litigation Lecture 2026

The annual Freshfields Litigation Lecture and annual Freshfields Arbitration Lecture feature leading lawyers discussing critical developments in global dispute resolution.

The 2026 Litigation Lecture will look at over a decade since the introduction of the Financial List in the High Court, a specialist cross-jurisdictional list created to provide expert adjudication of financial services disputes. Financial List Judges have considered many novel and important legal and regulatory issues since the list was established, including in market test cases on COVID-19 BI insurance claims and LIBOR transition on finance agreements. 

The Lecture will be a joint presentation by Lord Justice Birss, Chancellor of the High Court and future Master of the Rolls, and Mr Justice Butcher, Financial List Judge and future Justice of the Court of Appeal. They will look at the developments in the list and assess its future in the context of the changing landscape for financial markets. The focus of the discussion will be one of the most topical issues in the banking litigation space currently, the development of the Quincecare duty post-Philipp v Barclays [2023] UKSC 25. Tom Clark, partner in Freshfields Dispute Resolution practice, will chair the event.  

The Lecture will be held on the evening of Tuesday 22 September 2026 with drinks and canapes.

For further information, please contact Laura Feldman.