Tim Maltin comments in Legal Business’s 2020 Disputes Yearbook

Chief Executive Tim Maltin comments in Legal Business’s 2020 Disputes Yearbook in relation to litigation support and the importance of introducing PR and communications early on in litigation proceedings.

Tim’s comments were published on 27 March 2020. The full article can be accessed here.

“As the forum of choice for international litigants, London continues to enjoy an unparalleled reputation for high-value dispute resolution. The quality of justice delivered by its commercial courts is underpinned by the calibre of specialist independent judges and the lawyers that work in them. But beyond the courtroom door, a diverse range of specialist litigation support providers routinely help to bolster the case being put forward by the legal teams on both sides.

At first blush, each discrete area of litigation support might appear largely self-contained, but the overlap between them can be indispensable to the case strategy determined at the outset by each law firm with their clients. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in litigation PR, which can form a core part of the overall strategy – before, during and after a case.

‘Clients should bring PR people to the table very early on when litigation is first contemplated, to begin to map out how that could play on the client’s reputation,’ says Tim Maltin, founder of Maltin PR. He suggests that PR can play a role in introducing aspects that might become part of the hearing beforehand, which can have the effect of bringing parties to the settlement table. In working with lawyers, their clients and other litigation support specialists, he notes: ‘It’s absolutely a team effort and the best legal teams bring in different skillsets in a seamless way. The team gets to trust each other and understand the overall goal through the contribution of various experts.’”