Law specialisms : Dispute resolution

Sarah Parkes is a partner in the dispute resolution practice group in London. She specialises in litigation and regulatory proceedings in the financial institutions sector.

What does the work involve?

Dispute resolution involves representing clients in relation to risk issues that threaten their businesses. Traditionally that means advising them in the context of litigation but it extends to: international arbitration; mediation; assisting them on global investigations to understand any issues that have arisen in their business and advising them on crisis management.

As a solicitor in this area you work with clients to help protect them and their interests against these threats. When they come to you they've got a potential problem and you’re helping them to sort it out.

Who are the clients?

The clients of the disputes practice are generally the same clients that the firm as a whole serves. So in the financial institutions disputes group our clients tend to be the major investment banks or insurance companies. Across dispute resolution as a whole clients can include: oil majors; global service providers like the accountancy firms and FTSE 100 companies.

What do trainees do?

Trainees might think that they will spend a lot of time reviewing documents because one of the things we do is review the client's documents to see what's in there for disclosure or as part of investigations. While this is incredibly important there is so much more to dispute resolution. Trainees are very important in helping with research, putting together witness interviews and helping prepare for hearings by putting together reports and preparing all the relevant documents to ensure everything runs smoothly at court or when presenting to a client.

The variety within this area can see you dealing with completely different issues on a daily basis. One day you’re investigating something that has happened on the trading floor of a bank and the next day you’re advising in relation to litigation involving
mis-selling.

What skills do I need?

• Persistence
• Good attention to detail
• A sense of humour

In the future we will see more and more investigatory work. This is important to our clients because of the increased compliance environment that they operate in. So it is necessary for trainees to have some knowledge of the Bribery Act and the implications and law that surrounds things such as whistle-blowing.