'We're all in this together?': Dipping a toe in the hot tub

'Hot-tubbing' is a process popular in Australia and already used in some aspects of international dispute resolution. Lord Justice Jackson recommended the process in his Review of Civil Litigation Costs and a pilot study in Manchester's Mercantile and Technology and Construction Courts, by Professor Genn, has reported on an interim basis. The process has been adopted in some family law cases, and the implementation of some of the Jackson reforms in April 2013 will facilitate a more widespread voluntary adoption of the process. Will a domestic model of 'hot-tubbing' deliver the benefits hoped for by its proponents, in improving the quality and process of effective resolution? How does it compare to its international cousins? What are the impacts on access to justice for litigants inside and outside the process? How does the process sit within the journey from the pre-Woolf adversarial environment? What climatic challenges lie ahead for experts, lawyers and judges dipping their toes in the new 'hot-tubbing' process? This paper aims to explore some of these topical issues.