Insurance companies were the biggest target for 2007 lawsuits, according to a 10-industry survey, which found corporate counsel for all businesses expect an uptick this year in new actions and government probes.

On the government front, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New York's Southern District in Manhattan said yesterday it is working with the New York State Attorney General's Office to examine the credit-default swap market for potentially improper activity.

Results from the poll of 358 U.K. and U.S. in-house counsel were contained in the "Fulbright & Jaworski 2008 Litigation Trends Survey" which found that after two years of decline, companies expect a rise in litigation.

Insurance companies, the survey found, were the No. 1 target for new litigation in the past year--two-thirds of insurers faced at least six new lawsuits, including 29 percent facing more than 50 new actions.

Among all counsel polled this year, 34 percent are expecting an increase in litigation compared with 22 percent last year. Twenty-five percent expect an increase in the number of regulatory proceedings, with only 8 percent seeing a possible decline.

Among U.S. companies facing more legal attacks than U.K. businesses, 49 percent said they had retained outside counsel last year to assist in a government investigation and 30 percent said they had been hit with a grand jury subpoena or administrative summons. Thirty-seven percent of financial services firms' counsel said their firms were the target of subpoenas.

"This year's survey appears to mark an inflection point for American business, between the end of a prolonged period of prosperity and the start of a period of economic challenge that is likely to fuel litigation over who is to blame and who should pay for the consequences," said Stephen C. Dillard, who chairs Fulbright's global litigation practice.

American companies reported having to contend with investigations by more than a dozen different agencies in 2007-08, including growing scrutiny from state attorneys general and even the European Union. However, in absolute terms regulatory proceedings ebbed a bit.

Forty-three percent of in-house counsel said their company faced some type of regulatory proceeding the past year--a 5 percent decline from 2007.

The survey found that 79 percent of U.S. companies still reported fielding at least one new lawsuit in the past year--with 27 percent fending off more than 20 new suits, including 18 percent coping with more than 50 new actions.

Forty-five percent of U.S. companies are currently spending at least $1 million a year on litigation, the survey reported.

A complete survey findings and a descriptive "white paper" are online at www.fulbright.com/litigationtrends28.

Special Reports /

Jump Expected In Corporate Litigation, Survey Finds

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