I must admit I have always been baffled by the decision taken by Lord Woolf in Access to Justice to rebrand the process of “Discovery”, which we all knew and loved and to call it “Disclosure”.
I don’t think you see the process called Disclosure elsewhere in the world and indeed, I have recently had reason to look at the new Irish Supreme Court rules for 2009 and see that they resolutely refuse to follow Lord Woolf’s lead and firmly call the process Discovery.
I am not sure what lies behind the change but the process described is still the most expensive and time consuming of all the litigation tasks.
Coupled with the reluctance to come to terms with new technologies and the increasing amount of documents for disclosure caused by emails, back up tapes etc., disclosure has become a nightmare for clients and lawyers alike.
I hope that some sensible recommendations for change will come out of the Jackson review on costs. However, a start could be made now if..