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Norton Rose Fulbright today released its 15th annual litigation trends survey, and it's got some good news for litigators: More organizations than ever before anticipate dispute volume to rise in the year ahead.

Of course, this may not be so wonderful for everyone else—conventional wisdom holds that litigation goes up when the economy goes down. Or as the report put it, the finding is "A major red flag, signaling the need to prepare for potentially turbulent times ahead."

I suppose it would be unseemly to rejoice.

Norton Rose hired Acritas to survey 287 U.S.-based in-house counsel—firm clients and independently sourced legal department leaders—on pending and anticipated litigation. Respondents work at companies with median revenue of $1 billion and represent a wide range of industries.

Some of the big takeaways: The most common disputes are labor and employment related, with 49% of respondents reporting that they've had such cases pending in the last 12 months. Since 2015, the survey has shown a steady increase in the prevalence of labor/employment fights.

Contract disputes have also steadily climbed in the last five years. Currently, 42% of respondents said they've had at least one contract suit pending this year.

IP disputes stand out for being relatively common—18% of respondents are facing them—and for being of proportionately greater concern than other matters.

Looking ahead, in-house counsel foresee more cybersecurity and data privacy suits—44% of them anticipated this as a new source of disputes for their organizations in the next two to three years, and 52% reported feeling more exposed to cyber-risk. 

As one respondent said, "Cyber criminals are getting so much more creative; we're finding ourselves needing to be more and more diligent in our efforts to prevent these things from happening."

Another added, "It's more that people are aware of what a big issue this is; just that increased awareness by others, to me, heightens the importance of making sure that we're doing everything we can to protect people's private information."

A third pointed to regulatory changes. "There are more stringent laws that we have to comply with, that we may not be aware of or prepared for."

For the first time, respondents also flagged climate/ environment as an area where they anticipate new litigation, with 10% expecting to face such actions. 

Once litigation is underway, less than one in 10 respondents reported "an appetite for early or quick settlements."

Most respondents said they try to take a balanced approach between fighting and settling—but the report notes that "the picture does vary substantially by industry. Those operating in Energy, Tech and Innovation, and Life Sciences and Healthcare organizations tend to take a much more aggressive approach to disputes, with around a quarter of these organizations generally contesting, compared to 5 percent of infrastructure, mining and commodities respondents and 10 percent of those in transport."

You can read the whole report here.