Bird: Public sector teams in spotlight
Public sector claims and probate claims are two of the main reasons why claims issued in the High Court rose by 7% last year, according to new figures.
However, new class action claims at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) declined, particularly in the second half of 2025, when there were only a dozen.
Litigation data and analytics platform Solomonic’s annual review of commercial litigation [1] said that with 8,271 High Court claims issued, 2025 was “one of the busiest in recent years for newly issued claims” and suggested the sector was “in fair condition”.
Public sector claims were up by 34%, driven by cases with public sector bodies as defendants because claims issued by them remained flat.
Solomonic said the rise was “reflected across all public sector groups” – central government, local authorities, public services, regulators and arm’s length bodies.
The low level of claims issued by the public sector “may reflect budgetary pressures, policy changes, or a shift in approach to resolving disputes outside the courts”.
Solomonic identified a “steady but meaningful rise” in probate cases “as social demographics and economics create an ongoing growth in disputes”.
Probate claims in the Chancery Division were up by 13%, with the final quarter of 2025 recording the highest quarterly volume of the decade.
Meanwhile, new claim volumes at the CAT were “slightly down on both 2023 and 2024 figures”, with just 12 new claims issued in the second half of the year, compared to 37 in the first half.
The trucks cartel litigation “once again featured prominently”, with many cases transferred from Northern Ireland.
Whilst the number of new collective proceedings issued in the has slowed, 2025 “did end on a positive note”, with the success of class representative Dr Rachael Kent in her case against Apple [2] marking the “first significant opt-out victory” at the CAT.
With the government also announcing in December [3] legislation to reverse the PACCAR decision, Solomonic predicted that 2026 “may see a return to higher funding flows” to back litigation.
The caseloads of both the property and the intellectual property lists at the Chancery Division grew by 21% last year. The latter followed “steady growth since 2020, which may be expected in view of marked global trends towards patents, trademarks, and IP protection”.
The top five law firms in terms of High Court litigation activity were little changed from 2024, with Clyde & Co topping the table, involved in 192 new claims, followed by DAC Beachcroft (167), DWF (150) and Kennedys (129). RPC (101) dropped to sixth position, to be replaced in fifth by Seddons GSC (103, up from 70 in 2024 and just 26 in 2020).
The top 30 firms between them accounted for around a quarter of new claims.
There was more movement when it came to the top claimant law firms, with Seddons GSC (99 new claims) replacing Clyde & Co (90) as leader.
Kesar & Co (70, compared to four in 2024), a “new entrant to even the top 100”, took joint third place with Hamlins (70), followed by Hill Dickinson (64).
RPC dropped from first to fifth in table of top defendant law firms (78, down from 119 in 2024), now headed by DAC Beachcroft (122), followed by Kennedys and DWF (both 104) and Clyde & Co (103).
Edward Bird, chief executive of Solomonic, said there was “no single determining factor driving the growth in public sector litigation” but public sector legal teams should “carefully monitor risk to ensure they are secure against the plethora of claim types being run against them”.
Probate disputes were “subject to a combination of social and economic factors”, such as property price rises and “complex family structures becoming more and more common”.
When you added an ageing population and economic stress, it was “unsurprising that probate disputes are on the increase” and the trend was “set to continue”.