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Ask corporate counsel if they expect more, less or the same level of litigation in the New Year, and there's always a pessimistic group that expects more.

Typically, about 25% of inhouse lawyers say so, yet that rate rose to 35% in a survey released Wednesday by Norton Rose Fulbright, which surveyed nearly 300 corporate counsel about 2019 litigation trends. The increase is significant to partner Saul Perloff of San Antonio: He hasn't seen such a big spike in a while, he said, noting he's been involved with the survey for 14 of the 15 years his firm has released it.

"I sit up and take note of that," Perloff said. "That's telling me there is a concern out there about the future."

Texas Lawyer chatted with Perloff about the survey findings and asked how litigators and law firms can use the information to serve their clients. Here are his answers, edited for brevity and clarity.

What is the most valuable thing that lawyers and law firms can do with the information in the 2019 Litigation Trends Annual Survey?

It helps us as outside counsel to understand what our clients perceive as their biggest challenges. That helps us better serve their needs. For example, if our inside counsel is expressing a concern about cybersecurity, we had better be ready to address that.

If you are in-house counsel, and you read the survey, it helps to perhaps confirm what you've been worried about, or perhaps to get you to begin thinking about risks that maybe you haven't yet thought about.

Saul Perloff, partner with Norton Rose Fulbright. Courtesy photo

The survey notes that fears the economy may soon decline may cause increases in the amount of litigation. If this did happen, can you tell me what litigators and firms can do to prepare?

A downturn in the economy can often lead to increased litigation. I think our job is to be aware of it and be ready. Law firms, particularly firms like ours, we're not going to double our size overnight. There's a limited pool of people who are qualified to do it. What we can do is begin to reach out to our clients. When we get a survey like this, and see, 'Yes, our clients have the same concerns that we do about the economy and a potential increase,' we begin to reach out to them now and say, 'What is it we can do for you to help you understand and manage the risk?'

Among the corporate counsel who responded to your survey, 44% expected to see cybersecurity and data privacy suits and 52% said they feel exposed to cyber risk. How do you feel that cybersecurity attorneys should respond to this news?

I think in-house counsel are beginning to recognize this and identify this as a risk. Before, companies may have viewed it as a risk facing tech companies. As more and more companies maintain and use data—and data becomes more and more of an important asset—any companies can be exposed. I think the fact that in-house counsel are recognizing it helps because we can work with them to implement programs so they can understand it and manage it.

Read the survey:

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