By Tricia Lynn Silva
Corporate attorneys are bracing themselves for a busy year according to one of the key findings of the sixth annual litigation trends report by Fulbright & Jaworski. Of the 276 U.S. companies that participated in this years survey 42 expect an increase in the number of legal disputes their companies will face over the next 12 months. Why the run-up in litigation? Its the economy say officials with Houston-based Fulbright.
Generally litigation rises in an economic downturn as regulators tend to step up enforcement laid-off workers head to court and companies need to file more suits in order to collect on money owed" says Stephen C. Dillard who heads up Fulbrights global litigation practice.
The 2009 litigation trends survey was conducted from May through July of 2009 and it covers litigation practices over the prior 12-month period.
Fulbright & Jaworski hired Houston-based research firm Greenwood Associates to conduct the survey. Greenwood polled general or deputy general counsels at 408 U.S. companies to compile the report.
Eighty-three percent of U.S. survey participants responded to new litigation against their companies during the current survey period. This up from 79 percent of survey participants who reported new litigation against their firms in the 2008 survey.
Fulbright reports that during 12-month period covered by the 2009 survey 26 percent of the U.S. companies polled reported one or more $20 million-plus lawsuits against their firms. Another 44 percent of U.S. firms reported having at least one case go to trial.
In some cases companies are opting for taking a case to trial instead of seeking arbitration. The reasoning among some in-house counsels Fulbright reports is that a trial can offer greater discovery opportunities more established rules and an outcome based on the legal merits of a case.
Some other key findings from this years survey:
- Where the lawsuits are: In terms of frequency of litigation all was pretty quiet on the health care front. Only 12 percent of the health care firms surveyed reported a rise in litigation during the 2009 survey period. By comparison 42 percent each of the financial services and insurance companies surveyed reported a rise in litigation in the 2008 survey. And 55 percent of retail companies also reported a run-up in litigation over the current survey period.
- Employment matters: Survey respondents reported a rise in multi-plaintiff cases in several areas. The number of wage-and-hour disputes was up 15 percent compared to Fulbrights 2008 survey. There was an 11 percent increase each in the frequency of age and of sex discrimination cases. The number of disability and of race discrimination cases rose 8 percent and 10 percent respectively between the 2008 and 2009 surveys.
Also when it comes to wage and hour claims nearly half of all the suits were filed in California survey respondents state. The reason cited is the fact that California has more protective laws when it comes to the plaintiffs in wage-and-hour cases.
For
the full report click here.
