If you want to take a technology dispute to court, you’re unlikely to get a trial date in the Technology and Construction Court in London for over a year if you are going to need a week or more of the court’s time. With Brexit and Covid causing ongoing commercial and financial uncertainty, is there another quicker option to resolve disputes that parties can consider? The short answer is yes.

Introduced in October 2019, the Society for Computers & Law Adjudication Scheme might be just what parties need. Taking its lead from the adjudication provisions used in construction disputes, the Scheme is designed to provide a fast provisionally binding decision in three months. It can be used for all “Technology disputes” which are defined as “any dispute arising from a contract for the provision of tech-related goods and services including software development contracts, outsourcing arrangements, system integration contracts, IT consultancy contracts, software licensing agreements, blockchain/smart contracts and cloud computing contracts”. There is no restriction on the size or scope of the dispute that can be referred other than that it must be capable of being resolved within three months.