In mid-May, law firm Norton Rose Fulbright released its 11^th annual Litigation Trends Survey—the broadest the firm had ever undertaken, compiling results from more than 800 corporate counsel (primarily general counsel) representing companies across 26 countries on dispute-related issues and challenges. According to the firm survey summary, “While each country or region surveyed is unique, one common theme comes through loud and clear—corporate counsel around the world see the growing litigiousness of the  business environment as an important trend that bears watching.”

Survey results reflected significant corporate spend on litigation, with 34% of US respondents reporting litigation budgets of 1 million to 5 million, as compared to only 26% two years ago. There was also a slight increase in the companies reporting litigation budgets of $10 million or more.

One point of particular interest was the broad utilization of international arbitration, particularly for larger companies (more than $1 billion in revenue). Across all regions and industries, more than two-thirds of companies with $5 to $10 billion in revenue preferred arbitration, and were also much more likely to have been involved in an arbitration in the past 12 months (38%). Specifically, given the choice, for disputes that were international in nature, nearly half of total respondents said they preferred arbitration over litigation, with about a quarter choosing litigation and the remaining quarter answering, “It depends.” Continue reading →