The survey found that businesses faces more lawsuits last year than the year before, with labour disputes and employment issues leading the way in the US, reports the PYMNTS web site.
Litigation issues
The research, which was conducted by Houston business research firm Greenwood Associates, polled corporate counsel on litigation issues and other concerns. It collected the views of 392 in-house lawyers, of whom 275 are US-based and 82 per cent identify themselves as general counsel.
Following strict regulatory changes on both sides of the Atlantic in recent times, the survey revealed that companies retaining outside counsel for assistance in a regulatory investigation jumped in the US from 55 per cent in 2011 to 60 per cent in 2012 and leapt up in the UK from 27 per cent to 72 per cent.
Regulatory scrutiny
‘Ever since the financial crisis, our litigation trends survey has found respondents confronting increased regulatory scrutiny,’ commented Otway Denny, the head of Fulbright’s global disputes practice.
Mr Denny highlighted energy, health care, technology and manufacturing as sectors which were fuelling the increase in investigations – an increase which many also said was likely to subside in 2013.
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