In the context of Practice Direction (PD) 57AD ("Disclosure in the Business and Property Courts"), "a claim which the parties have agreed or the court has ordered is one that meets the criteria for the Less Complex Claims regime as set out in Appendix 5 of [PD 57AD]" (paragraph 1.9, Appendix 1 to PD 57AD).

Claims will be appropriate for the simplified regime if, by virtue of their "nature, value, complexity and the likely volume of Extended Disclosure" they "may not benefit from the full procedure set out in the main body of [PD 57AD]" (paragraph 3, Appendix 5). Claims for less than £1 million should be treated as Less Complex Claims unless the other factors in paragraph 3 indicate otherwise (paragraph 4, Appendix 5). The fact that the value of a claim may exceed £1 million does not, of itself, mean that the claim should not be treated as a Less Complex Claim, if the other factors specified in paragraph 3 indicate that it should be.

A simplified Disclosure Review Document (DRD) and accompanying guidance apply for claims under the Less Complex Claims regime (as set out at Appendices 6 and 7 to PD 57AD).

For detailed consideration of the Less Complex Claims regime, see Disclosure in the B&PCs: Q&A on the Less Complex Claims regime.

For details of our comprehensive content on the approach to disclosure under PD 57AD, see Disclosure in the B&PCs toolkit.