​London and New York are held to be the best cities in the world for litigation. The High Courts in London handle about 4,000 cases each year and these are often £multi-million actions involving the Magic Circle solicitors’ firms and the best known of the country’s barristers.

 “Barristers talk all the time about quality, but there is a lack of quantitative evidence to show how good a barrister is. Now, for the first time, you have proper numbers which have been analysed. They don”t follow the logic you would think.”

IAN DODD, EX.CEO OF BARRISTER”S CHAMBER & LAW FIRM AND CHAMBERS CONSULTANT

Reputations are made and lost during complex and, often, long-running cases and personal fortunes, business finances and company fates often hang on the decisions the courts pass. The web-sites of leading barristers’ chambers relate the quality of their members engaged in these cases and those of the top solicitors describe how they provide the very best service to their clients.

However, there is no quantitative and comparative way any of these claims can be tested and so much relies on personal contacts and qualitative experiences. There is no Quality Assurance scheme for barristers who undertake any work in the courts of England & Wales. Previously, barristers’ chambers have been able to subscribe to schemes which assessed the administrative abilities of their staff. Some have refined this and have ISO 9000 and/or Investors in People accreditation. None of these, though, measures the performance of barristers. Latterly attempts have been made to quantify the court work of criminal barristers through the QASA (Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates) but this relates only to those engaged in criminal work in the lower courts and it has not yet been implemented.

Premonition.ai have dissected almost 12,000 cases in the High Courts of England covering the last three years. For the first time every solicitors’ firm and instructed barrister have had their win/loss performance analysed in a way that valid and meaningful comparisons can be made. Using this information a solicitor can see exactly how the barristers they instruct have performed every time they have made a High Court appearance. This will enable those solicitors, and others who wish to instruct barristers, to choose those with good track records. It will also enable barristers’ chambers clerks and management to promote and market their top-performers better and to enhance their reputations for delivering results.

Premonition.ai will soon be publishing a full report of their work and findings at. Those interested in receiving a copy should contact them a t[email protected]