Fulbright & Jaworski Release 2010 Litigation Trends Survey

Fulbright & Jaworski has released its 2010 Litigation Trends Survey: Companies Expect More Litigation, Regulation; Continue Emphasis on Managing Legal Cost In Struggling Economy.

The 2010 Fulbright & Jaworski Litigation Trends Survey was conducted from May through July by Greenwood Associates, a business research firm in Houston that has produced previous editions of the report. The survey, launched by Fulbright in 2004, is the largest polling of corporate counsel on litigation issues and concerns.

Fulbright’s 2010 survey asks companies to consider, among other things, what types of litigation most concerns them, where they’re spending limited budgets and how they are adjusting approaches to litigation management as the economy struggles to emerge from the downturn. This year’s survey also delves into special topics, such as how companies are dealing with the issue of data preservation and what social technology sites are being used to advance business interests.

The survey provides valuable insight including:

How Should We Resolve This? Litigation versus Arbitration

International Arbitration Expected to Rise: Fulbright’s latest survey found an expectation among corporate counsel that international commercial arbitration will rise in the coming year. Nearly one-fifth of all respondents (and nearly a third of U.K. respondents) expect an increase in 2011. Sector-wise, a quarter of respondents from each of the financial services, manufacturing and healthcare industries expect a rise in the use of international arbitration.

International Arbitration All the Rage in U.K.: Last year, only 22% of all respondents reported having been party to an international arbitration in the previous 12 months. This year’s survey finds that overall rate more than doubled. However, the rise was due mainly to a spike in international arbitrations at U.K. companies – 52% of whom were party to an international arbitration (versus only 19% of U.S. respondents). Sector-wise, 40% of respondents from the financial services and manufacturing industries reported being party to one or more international arbitrations in the past year, with energy and technology/communications a close second with 36% of each reporting one or more international arbitration.

For Domestic Disputes, Litigation Still Preferred: For disputes that are not international in nature, litigation is preferred, both in the U.S. and U.K. and across company-size and sector. But the rationale changes depending on geography: in the U.K. “lower cost” is the predominant reason for choosing litigation. Meanwhile, only 19% of U.S. respondents say lower cost leads them to choose litigation – they also point to “better results” and “reviewability” among the top reasons for choosing litigation. For the minority that prefer arbitration in domestic disputes, lower cost is the main reason.

Arbitrating Labor Suits – A Special Case: More than one-quarter of U.S. respondents say they now require arbitration of employment disputes in non-union settings – that’s up from last year’s 19%. Why choose arbitration in these cases? More than 70% each of small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap companies say arbitration is beneficial for employee relations.”

The full survey is available here. Disputing would like to thank Charles Rumbaugh for the link.

You can find Disputing‘s blog about the 2009 Litigation Trends Survey here.

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