RPC at London International Disputes Week 2026

We are delighted to once again be centrally involved in London International Disputes week this year, taking part in a number of member-hosted events for 2026. With partner Jonathan Cary a co-chair of LIDW, we are proud to be at the heart of this important annual event.

Focused around its theme of 'Tradition, trust and transformation in international dispute resolution', LIDW will bring together leading voices from across the global disputes community to explore the business and law of international dispute resolution, and unpack the key trends, challenges and opportunities that will define the next year and beyond.

We look forward to welcoming members of the international disputes community as we celebrate London's enduring role as a leading centre for international dispute resolution.

Read on for details of the events we will be hosting and taking part in, and register your place today.

Wednesday 3 June | Tech disputes: transforming risk into resolution

Time: 0900 – 1030 | Venue: RPC | Register here.

A practical session exploring the best ways to maintain trust when IT projects go wrong and how to identify and resolve tech disputes early – including how and when to escalate disputes, initiate legal proceedings and involve independent IT experts.

Speakers: Helen Armstrong (RPC), Siobhan Forster (Alvarez & Marsal), Jon Lang (Mediator), Ben Powell (RPC), Phil Roberts KC (One Essex Court)

Wednesday 3 June | Data centres: disputes and the digital backbone 

Time: 1130 – 1300 | Venue: RPC | Register here.

Data Centres are the infrastructural backbone of an increasingly digital and AI driven economy. Join us as we discuss disputes relating to this complex operational framework: from construction to energy regulation, and ESG to political risk.

Speakers: Ankit Goyal (RPC), Caroline Tuck (RPC), Gathi Prakash Karrah (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas), Karthik Balisagar (FTI Consulting), Ziad Obeid (Obeid & Partners) 

Wednesday 3 June | Crypto arbitration – stable as a coin or a (Black) swan dive?

Time: 1400 – 1530 | Venue: RPC | Register here.

An exploration of how digital asset exchanges have relied on arbitration agreements over time to take advantage of regulatory arbitrage  and their experience at the sharp end of claims, and what this means for both sides of a crypto dispute.

Speakers: Jonathan Crompton (RPC), Mihaela Apostol (ArbTech), Sarah Green (D2 Legal Technology), Anne-Marie Hitchin (Alix Partners), Rebecca Warder (LCAM), Richard Brown (Carey Olsen)

Wednesday 3 June | The arbitrator is dead, long live the AiBitrator: this house believes that human-led dispute resolution is slow, expensive and generally ineffective

Time: 1630 – 1800 | Venue: RPC | Register here.

Following the success of last year's lively and highly entertaining Big LIDW Debate, RPC and Stephenson Harwood host this year's head-to-head: Should Arbitrators be replaced with AI?

RPC and Stephenson Harwood advocates will argue for and against the motion. A 'tribunal' comprised of high-ranking members of the leading international arbitration institutions will put questions to the teams, share their personal views and showcase the steps their institutions are taking in this area.  

Want to join the debate?

Speakers: Kirtan Prasad (RPC), Yi-Shun Teoh (RPC), Shai Wade (RPC), Shwetha Bidhuri (SIAC), Juliet Blanch (Arbitration Chambers and ICC Court) , Daniel Boon (Stephenson Harwood), Samuel Mbiriri Nderitu (NCIA), Kevin Nash (LCIA), Neeti Sachdeva (MCIA), Kamal Shah (Stephenson Harwood), Henry Simpson (Stephenson Harwood)

The session will be followed by networking drinks.

Thursday 4 June | Marks, gates and margin calls: litigation risk in private credit

Time: 0900 – 1030 | Venue: RPC | Register here.

Private credit has grown to a multi trillion dollar market at the heart of global finance. As tariffs, geopolitical instability and AI disruption put borrowers under strain, structural features of private credit – opaque valuations, leverage, conditional liquidity and complex fee/conflict dynamics – are being tested in real time. For disputes professionals, this is where things get interesting.

This session will:

• Demystify how private credit actually works, using concrete examples (BDCs, interval funds, CLOs, ELTIFs, continuation vehicles, PIKs and leverage).
• Explore where and how disputes are likely to emerge: valuation misstatements, gating and redemption disputes, suitability and mis selling claims, fiduciary duty challenges around continuation vehicles and related party transfers, collateral and covenant issues, and cross border regulatory angles.
• Examine the role of experts in these cases, from reconstructing “shadow” default rates and testing NAVs against market evidence, to analysing governance issues, conflicts and timing/knowledge around stale valuations.
• Unpack why the next 12-18 months may mark the start of a full disputes cycle.

Our panellists will combine technical market insight with contentious experience to equip disputes practitioners to navigate – and litigate – the coming wave of private credit claims.

If you are a disputes practitioner handling FS litigation, enforcement, restructuring or contentious valuation issues, this is a conversation you cannot afford to miss.

Speakers: Daniel Hemming (RPC), Helen Carty (Clifford Chance), Richard Indge (Ankura), Pawan Malik (Delphinus Advisory)

Thursday 4 June | The Settlement Game: how lawyers misinterpret the mathematics of disputes

Time: 0900 – 1030 | Venue: S&W | Register here.

Following last year's session, we will look at:

• Settlement analysis: A mathematical perspective – an in-depth discussion on the mathematical principles underpinning settlement and settlement strategies.
• Mathematical missteps in legal reasoning – an exploration of common mathematical misconceptions and fallacies that legal professionals encounter and the potential impact on case outcomes.
• Additional insights such as considering how to adapt the framework to reflect human psychology in disputes rather than simple financial upside maximisation.

Speakers: Chris Whitehouse (RPC), Dan Wyatt (RPC), Nicholas Good (S&W), Laura MacBean (S&W)

Thursday 4 June | Competition claims: the past, present and future?

Time: 1130 – 1300 | Venue: RPC | Register here.

With a number of the earliest filed cases now coming to conclusion, we consider the development of the regime and whether it has been transformative, through the lens of the cases that have won, settled or been denied.  Looking at aggregate damages, platform cases, novel claims and where next for new cases being filed.

Speakers: Zoë Mernick-Levene (RPC), Chris Ross (RPC), Joseph Bell (Oxera), Philip Woolfe KC (Monckton Chambers)

Thursday 4 June | AI disputes and developments across five jurisdictions

Time: 1400 – 1530 | Venue: RPC | Register here.

The panel will look at how AI is impacting five non-UK jurisdictions (and possibly the position in the UK as well) and explore the panellists own AI experiences.

Speakers: Chris Whitehouse (RPC), Dan Wyatt (RPC), Kate McMahon (Edmonds Marshall McMahon), Racheal Muldoon (Ogier)