Conventional wisdom holds that litigation is counter-cyclical. So now that the economy is in the toilet, does this mean litigators will get their moment in the sun while their corporate and M&A colleagues sit idle?

Perhaps—but not quite yet.    

My colleagues at ALM's newest project, Legal Radar, (which if you have not checked out, you should do so right away) have been crunching data, looking at new civil filings in federal courts across the country. 

Here's what they found: "Over the four weeks ending April 12, new civil cases across all U.S. district courts slumped more than 22 percent compared with the same four weeks last year."

Oof.

They didn't count all civil cases—the tally excludes non-commercial matters such as social security claims and immigration cases, and also doesn't count redundant mass tort filings. And of course, correlation is not causation. Moreover, it's likely the drop reflects court closures, distracted lawyers working from home and clients facing an array of issues more pressing than litigation.

Still, the numbers tell us something about the current state of the bread-and-butter litigation practices at many law firms—securities, IP, insurance, labor and employment, contracts, ADA accessibility, personal injury and foreclosures. 

Some practice areas are faring better than others. New foreclosure actions, for example, plummeted the most, with a 68% drop. But that's hardly surprising, since the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed in late March, put a moratorium on foreclosures for homeowners with federally backed mortgages (about half of all mortgages).

Also, even the most rapacious lender might think twice about taking someone's home at a time when most people are ordered to shelter in place. Or one would hope.

Personal injury cases are also way down, falling 47%—perhaps because so many non-critical health care matters are on hold. 

Before filing a case, accident victims need to receive all of the doctor-recommended treatment, notes Orlando personal injury lawyer Tina Willis. "Unfortunately, fear of this virus, as a reason for not receiving medical treatment after an accident, will not change the fact that the treatment is needed to maximize case value … because we can't settle a case, or file a lawsuit, until treatment is substantially finished."

ADA accessibility cases are also down 24%. Many of those cases are based on people suing businesses for failing to meet accessibility standards. But now that so many businesses are closed, there are fewer opportunities to find violations. (Also, c'mon. Is this really a good time to sue a shuttered restaurant or shop that's on the verge of going under as-is?)

Copyright and trademark suits also showed a steep decline.

New contract suits to date are down slightly, though lawyers fully expect this to change. 

As my colleague Angela Morris reported last month, "Disputes are already surfacing as U.S. companies get notices that their China-based vendors of parts or materials can't honor contracts because of the 'force majeure' event… [A]t this point, most parties just want to manage the problem and get their operations back on line. However, at some point, companies will begin asking who is responsible for the costs. If they can't agree on a resolution, that's when they file lawsuits."

A few practice areas are already seeing a bump in new filings compared to 2019, including labor and employment. Cases are up 4%, and many lawyers anticipate further growth.

"Conferring with my L&E and employee benefit partners, there is a general consensus that there will be many employee class actions," writes Kent Schmidt, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney, in his Left Coast Law blog. "One reason for the delay in employment case filings is that the operative facts relating to these claims are still unfolding in real time as employees are being required to work remotely or perform essential services under extraordinary conditions, encountering risks never contemplated."

Also up: Insurance cases, with 4.5% increase to date—a tally that's also almost sure to rise. For example, McKool Smith insurance recovery head Robin Cohen last week told me that she's already been contacted by more than 100 clients across a range of industries who have asked her to review their policies and advise on coverage.

Cohen noted that insurers typically require policy holders to follow their claims handling process, and to provide proof of their losses (still a moving target), which means many suits are still weeks or months away.

Securities litigation has also spiked, though it's a fairly small universe of cases.

To date, companies including Norwegian Cruise Lines, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Zoom have been hit with shareholder class actions related to the coronavirus. Other suits

Lawyers expect more to come. 

COVID-19 "is the perfect recipe for 'event-driven' securities class action lawsuits," according to Troutman Sanders. "We expect to see a wave of securities class action filings following the 'event' of the COVID-19 pandemic and related market losses."