A feast of litigation in 2012

John Passmore and Tom Bird, of Quadrant Chambers, look at the spread of recent cases

In 2012 shipping lawyers have continued to feast on the vast spread of cases which have arisen from vertiginous volatility in freight rates, tonnage prices and bunker oil prices since 2007. Political risk and piracy have also been on the “to do” list, with mass speculation about the future course of events in Iran and Israel – not to mention the countries in between – and a shift in reported acts of piracy from Somalia to elsewhere. Closer to home, the legal profession is holding its breath to see how some fundamental changes in the rules for costs recovery will play out.