The data was gathered through: 1) Self-completion survey questionnaires (which were sent to the Heads of litigation departments and family law firms from there relevant sampling frames drawn from the legal directories). The primary quantitative data (from the self-completion survey) should provide information about the statics of the cross-border litigation pattern (e.g. volume; type of cases). 2) Semi-structured interviews which were conducted with legal practitioners in England and Wales. The primary qualitative data (from the semi-structured Interviews) should provide information about the parties’ strategies (i.e. the dynamics of the cross-border litigation pattern). The purpose of this pilot study was to measure the expected initial impact of Brexit on parties’ strategies which would in turn have a bearing on the litigants’ access to legal remedies (as well as on settlement dynamics) in cross-border disputes. The newly generated data should enable researchers to consider the correlation between a possible change in the legal landscape and the parties’ alternative strategies as well as to analyse the relationship between the litigants’ tactics and private parties’ access to justice in cross-border cases before the English and Welsh courts. On this basis, it would be possible to identify the main issues which would need to be addressed by the UK policy-makers as priority with a view to setting up a well-functioning private international law regime in a post-Brexit context.

1) The quantitative data was gathered from the litigation departments or the family law units of all law firms which featured in the relevant sampling frame. The sampling frames for the relevant law firms (re the quantitative survey) was drawn, in April 2018, from the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. In family law, the sampling frame included 82 family law firms. They were all approached. 14 responses were received back, with the response rate being approximately 17%. In commercial law, a sampling frame of 144 law firms was drawn. Again, all of them were approached. 28 responses were received which amounted to a response rate of 19.44%. 2) The sampling frame for the purposes of the interviews was based on the one for the EUPILLAR project (See Cross-Border Litigation in Europe, Hart 2017). The names of the actively practising barristers were drawn from the judgments rendered in the EU PIL cases, as identified for the EUPILLAR databases. Lists with names of solicitors were drawn to include the names of the leading individuals listed on the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. The solicitors’ lists intended to represent both London lawyers and those working elsewhere in England and Wales by adding names of solicitors from regional law firms and branches of large law firms. After any duplicates were eliminated and the relevant sampling frame was updated to reflect any changes in the status of legal practitioners, the sampling framework included: 393 barristers (civil and commercial law); 217 barristers (family law); 457 solicitors (specialising in commercial law) and 396 solicitors (family law). The potential interview respondents were randomly selected from each category, and invited to take part in the pilot study.