For many business owners, disputes are something to be avoided rather than planned for, but 2026 has, so far, shaped up to be a year in which the ground can shift without warning.
Understanding the current direction of travel on the likes of contract disputes, how these are resolved, and how visible they become once they reach court, could save time, stress and money in the long run.
Megan Jefferies, Partner, and Darcy Lilley, Solicitor, in our Commercial Dispute Resolution team take a look at what should be on your radar.
Contract small print matters more than ever
Two Court of Appeal decisions this year are a reminder that vague contract terms can produce outcomes neither party intended.
KSY Juice Blends Ltd v Citrusco GmbH: The parties had agreed that the contract price would be decided in the future. One party argued that this made the deal unenforceable. The court disagreed, ruling that the price would default to a reasonable, market rate.
This is a useful result for the party wanting to enforce the agreement, but a cautionary tale for anyone assuming that leaving a term open will help them keep flexibility – the court may simply fill the gap itself, and not necessarily in the way which either party expected.
Kulkarni v Gwent Holdings: This appeal dealt with a breach of contract and termination. The judges confirmed that if a breach is fixed before the other party acts on it, the right to terminate the contract can disappear – and that ignoring formalities, such as a required notice period, can be costly.
The lesson for business owners is simple: if something goes wrong with a contract, act quickly and follow the process to the letter, or risk losing the ability to walk away from it.
With payment and pricing disputes already on the rise, particularly in construction and supply chains, businesses negotiating new deals this year would do well to build in clear pricing mechanisms and unambiguous breach and termination clauses, rather than relying on the courts to interpret intentions after the fact.
Mediation first, litigation later
Since the Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil ruling was handed down in November 2023, courts have been increasingly willing to order parties towards mediation or arbitration before a dispute goes any further.
Combined with reforms under the Arbitration Act 2025 – such as the clearer rules on which country's law governs an arbitration agreement, and firmer duties on arbitrators to disclose conflicts of interest – 2026 is cementing alternative dispute resolution as the default first step, not a fallback.
For business owners, this is worth taking seriously. Building a mediation or escalation clause into contracts, and being genuinely willing to engage with it, could avoid a costly march towards court altogether.
Group claims and access to funding are expanding
The regime governing group and class actions is also in flux. Following the Supreme Court's PACCAR ruling in July 2023 on litigation funding, the government has confirmed it intends to introduce legislation to reverse its effects, alongside plans to widen access to funding for claimants taking on larger, well-resourced organisations.
The decision outlined that third-party litigation funding agreements are considered "damages-based agreements" if the funder’s return is calculated as a percentage of the damages recovered. Following this ruling, many such agreements were rendered unenforceable.
Combined with rising activity in the Competition Appeal Tribunal and an increase in data protection claims, this points to a growing appetite and means for collective claims against businesses.
Court documents are about to become more public
From January 2026, [CW1] a two-year pilot scheme, gives the public wider access to documents used in open court hearings, including skeleton arguments, witness statements and expert reports.
For businesses involved in litigation, this is a significant shift towards transparency, and one that calls for careful thought about confidentiality and reputational exposure when preparing case documents – decisions on strategy and settlement may increasingly need to account for what the public, and competitors, could end up reading.
Emerging risks
Disputes rooted in technology are also multiplying, with cases testing how copyright law applies to AI training data gathering pace.
Meanwhile, the rise of digital assets such as cryptocurrency is prompting new questions over ownership, and cybersecurity breaches remain a persistent risk, with growing scrutiny of directors who fail to put adequate safeguards in place.
Elsewhere, partnership disputes and claims against directors are expected to increase, and the financial services sector looks set for a busier year of contentious work under mounting regulatory and market pressure.
To stay ahead of problems before they arise, it is important to ensure regular review of partnership agreements and documentation as well as checking that insurance cover for directors and officers is up to date.
Taken together, these developments point to a year in which prevention is worth considerably more than cure. Reviewing contracts, dispute resolution clauses and governance now, with proper legal advice, is likely to have far less of a negative impact on a business than untangling a dispute once it has already begun.
The Thrings Commercial Dispute Resolution team has an outstanding track record in achieving success in court, also offering expertise in mediation, pre-action work, settlement negotiations and arbitration to deliver commercially focused solutions to minimise disruption to your business. Contact us to find out more.
