International litigation poses a host of challenges for firms and their clients, and the demand for services related to this litigation is rising.
The share of corporate counsel needing to conduct cross-border discovery rose to 41 percent in 2015-2016, up from 35 percent the year before, according to the Norton Rose Fulbright 2016 Litigation Trends Annual Survey. The survey also found that corporate counsel expressing a need to conduct cross-border discovery in more than half of their matters doubled from 7 percent to 14 percent.
International litigation adds layers of complexity to legal practice given the involvement of multiple sovereign states, each with its own laws related to personal jurisdiction, service of process, evidence, swearing of witnesses and discovery procedure.
Cases can involve multiple international locations, parties, firms, lawyers, cultures, laws and witnesses. Firms must be expert at finding capable partners in each jurisdiction, coordinating dozens (or hundreds) of players, and interpreting documents in multiple languages, all while executing a single coherent strategy.
Videoconferencing is an increasingly valuable solution for easing some of the challenges of depositions in international cases. For pennies on the dollar, attorneys and witnesses can come face-to-face across continents, eliminating the time and cost of passports, airfare, hotels, expenses and billed fees for the entire trip.
Clients, partners, co-counsel, interpreters, experts, paralegals and others can join a remote deposition session from anywhere. Not only can they see and hear the witness, but they can track and annotate the real-time transcript as it's developed, view electronic exhibits, and chat privately and securely through the software.
International litigation is complex. Our suggestion? Simplify when you can. Remote depositions are a good place to start.