The Disclosure Pilot Scheme: The What, How and When

The civil courts in England and Wales have long struggled with handling the disclosure of documents in modern civil litigation. Challenges around the volume, variety and velocity of electronically stored information (ESI) in the disclosure process have conflicted with the civil courts’ overriding objective of dealing with cases justly and at proportionate cost, as set out in the Civil Procedure Rules for England & Wales (CPR).

An attempt to solve the problem was originally made in the 2013 Jackson Reforms to the CPR, but it became clear that this existing framework was not working, as the cost, scale and complexity of disclosure had become disproportionate to the issues and the value of disputes. Therefore, we have seen the introduction and evolution of the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (DPS).

In this white paper, we will provide a brief overview of the DPS, together with the role of legal technology in the evolution of the disclosure process, including how legal teams can leverage such technology to strengthen their data-handling procedures to remain effective in the future.