Study: Downturn will fuel litigation - San Antonio Business Journal:

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The blame game will prompt many oftheswe suits, the study contends. Of the U.S.-basexd companies participating inthis year’as survey, 34 percent expect to see what the studh calls a “run-up” in litigation involving theifr firms over the next 12 months. By 22 percent of respondents to the 2007 surveyh expected to see an increasein litigation. “This year’s survey appears to mark an inflection poinr for American business between the end of a prolonged period of prosperityt and the start of a period of economic challenge that is likely to fuel litigation over who is to blame and who shoul d pay forthe consequences,” said Stephen Dillard, chairt of Fulbright’s global litigation practice.
The latest litigation trendxs report is based on responses from 358 participatingtcompanies — including company official who serve as genera l or deputy-general counsels for their Of that pool, 251 respondents were U.S.-based firms. The surveyh was performed from May 22 throughn July 18 of this year during what Dillardcalls “the cusp of that from economic prosperity to the current economic The report covers litigation practices over the priodr 12-month period. Houston business research firm conducted the survey on behalf of Fulbright & Jaworski. The litigation trends report provides businesses with a snapshot of the currentglegal landscape, notes John Weber Jr.
, who is a partne r in the litigation practice of the San Antoniok office of Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski. Given the timeframe in whic the surveywas conducted, Dillard said that the 2008 report highlightsx “both the evident calm beforer the storm, as well as the sense that disputew are on the The overall pace of activity in the U.S. declinex during the 2007-2008 survey period with 21 percentof U.S. companies stating that no new lawsuit s had been filedagainst them. By comparison, 17 percent of the firm s surveyed claimed there was no pending litigation against them duringthe 2006-2007u survey period. Of the U.S.
companies respondingy to the 2008 litigation trends survey, 45 percent reportedx spending at least $1 million annuallhy on litigation. In line with that 19 percent ofthe U.S.-based firmx stated that they were more likelyg to increase their in-house litigationj staff. Over the past 12 months, 12 percent of the insurance companies surveyed had already engagedf outside counsel regarding subprime lawsuitsor investigations. Elevenh percent of the financial services firmw surveyed had done this over thepast year.
Looking aheas to the next 12 months, 15 percent of the insurancwe firms and 22 percent of the financial servicesrespondentzs are, as the report “bracing themselves for a subprims action or investigation.” The survegy found that insurance companies were most vulnerabled to litigation — with at least 66 percent of thesw firms facing six or more new lawsuits. Next was the retailp industry, with 55 percent of this sector facinyg at least six new These top targets were followedby manufacturing, with 54 percenf of the companies facing six or more new and health care providers, with 52 percent of its businessese facing at least six new lawsuits.
As for the areas most ripe for the top three were labor andemployment matters, contract disputesx and personal injury cases. These areas also took the top threes spots inthe 2006-07 and the 2005-0 6 surveys, Weber says. Product liability, intellectual property/patents, insurance, environmental-toxic tort, class actions and professionalk services rounded out the top 10 categoriesof