Norton Rose Fulbright releases 16th annual Litigation Trends Survey
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In global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright’s 16th annual Litigation Trends Survey, nearly half of the corporate counsel respondents state that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused either an increase or decrease in their volume of disputes.
Primarily driven by commercial/contract issues and employment and labor disputes, 31 percent of corporations reported an increase in litigation as a result of COVID-19. Conversely, 12 percent reported experiencing a decrease in disputes due to the pandemic. An additional three percent experienced an increase in certain types of disputes and a decrease in others because of the pandemic.
Additionally, with many courts remaining closed, the one third of corporations who saw their disputes backlog grow will face even more significant strain as they seek to clear an excess of active cases. COVID-19 caused an increase in workloads for nearly 70 percent of respondents, but just 18 percent said they have a mandate to increase in-house team sizes.
Research indicates that a rise in workloads is likely to continue well into 2021, with 45 percent of respondents predicting a further increase in the number of pandemic-related disputes for the next year.
- Three quarters of our respondents had engaged in some kind of dispute activity in a remote setting during 2020; most expect elements of virtual activity to continue post-pandemic.
- Since the beginning of the pandemic, 56 percent of respondents reported attending hearings and court proceedings remotely. More than half reported doing depositions remotely, and just under 40 percent of respondents participated in remote litigation.
- Twenty-two percent of respondents have increased the volume of early settlements as a defendant and 14 percent as the plaintiff.
- Approximately one third of respondents reported an increase in the backlog of disputes in the pipeline, citing a combination of court closures and lockdowns.
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