Record number of nationalities represented at London Commercial Courts

93 nationalities were represented, a new record and the third consecutive year-on-year increase.

Overall, 1,368 litigants appeared before the LCC – a 12% increase from last year.

The share of international litigants was down 3% overall from 64.7% to 61.7%. However, this was still the second highest ratio of international to domestic parties ever.

The decrease was attributed mainly to a decrease of litigants from the EU from 24% to 16%. However, the share of litigants from the rest of the world increased from 40.7% to 45.5%.

After litigants from the United Kingdom, the next highest number of litigants came from:

• the United Arab Emirates (68)
• the United States (66)
• Russia (60)
• Cyprus (52)
• the Cayman Islands (38)
• Switzerland (37)
• British Virgin Islands (36)
• Luxembourg (30)
• Germany (24)
• Spain (24)

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The number of litigants from the UAE reached a record high, increasing 113% in the last two years.

This reflects a deepening preference among Emirati individuals and institutions for English law. It's also a recognition of English courts as the foremost venue for resolving complex, high-value disputes.

The success of the English law-based Dubai International Financial Centre courts and the Abu Dhabi Global Market courts has been a positive for LCC. It ensures that Emirati parties are increasingly familiar with English law.

United States

Litigants from the US were down from 75 last year to 66 this year. It should be noted that this is still a higher number than in any previous year and the number of US litigants has more than tripled since 2017/18.

92% of US litigants are corporate. In the past, most cases involving US litigants were disputes between UK and US parties. Now, American parties are using London Commercial Courts in litigation against a wide variety of nationalities.

US parties seem to trust London as a neutral forum for adjudicating complex and politically charged disputes.

Other findings

Litigation involving Russian parties fell steeply in 2023/24. In the past year his trend has reversed. Russian litigants doubled to 60 in 2024/25 – the highest number since Portland began reporting.

85% of Russian litigants were on the defending side. This is the highest gap of any nationality.

The increase in Russian litigants may reflect litigation tied to:

• enforcement proceedings
• asset protection, or
• disputes triggered by sanctions and complex cross-border dynamics

Portland speculates that the increase may also represent a backlog of cases filed before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 which have been delayed by sanctions until now.