Top Litigation Trends of 2026

Want to impress law firms with some slick commercial awareness? You're in the right place.

In 2026, litigation sits at the crossroads of regulation, technology, transparency and public trust. For law firms, disputes work is becoming more scrutinised, more strategic and more closely tied to reputational risk.

Below we have broken down the key litigation trends to understand in 2026.

1. Litigation funding is being rebuilt

What is litigation funding?
Litigation funding allows a third party to pay the legal costs of a case in return for a share of the damages if the claim succeeds. It is particularly important for large claims, class actions and cases where the claimant could not otherwise afford to sue.

What is changing in 2026?
A Supreme Court decision called PACCAR ruled that many funding agreements were technically unlawful. This caused major disruption. Funders pulled back. Some claims stalled. Others were never brought at all.

In late 2025, the Government agreed that this went too far and committed to new legislation to reverse PACCAR and introduce proportionate regulation of funders. The law is expected in 2026, although the exact timing remains unclear.

Why this matters for law firms