2024 In-House Counsel Litigation Trends

Norton Rose Fulbright’s 19th Annual Litigation Trends Survey indicates that the risks surrounding tech regulation, cybersecurity and AI are uppermost on the minds of in-house counsel heading into 2024.

The respondents say that the increased frequency of cyberattacks, combined with a constantly evolving patchwork of data privacy laws, has raised their litigation exposure.

They are also focusing on ESG litigation and financial fraud class actions. The number of organizations involved in bank and financial fraud class actions more than doubled after 2023’s banking crisis.

Corporate counsel expects that the role of AI in patenting, copyright and fair use cases will bring increased intellectual property dispute exposure. Nevertheless, more than a third of corporate counsel support the use of generative AI by their law firms.

“2023 brought rapid-fire developments in artificial intelligence, and in-house counsel are eager both to respond to new uncertainties around generative AI and also take advantage of the efficiencies it promises,” said Steven Jansma, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Head of Litigation and Disputes.

Regulatory and investigations-related litigation plagued forty percent of survey respondents in the past year. Almost half identify employment and labor as the area of highest concern.

Slightly more than half expect to increase the number of in-house litigators, up from 36 percent in last year’s survey. Companies with $1 billion or more in revenue spent an average of $3.9 million on litigation in 2023.

One-quarter said their ESG dispute exposure increased in 2023. Respondents in energy, real estate, construction and technology were most concerned about ESG exposure in 2024.