Insurance companies in US faced highest number of lawsuits last year

Insurance companies were the Number 1 target of new litigation in the past year, with two-thirds of insurers surveyed by Fulbright & Jaworski LLP facing at least six new lawsuits.
Out of those insurers listed above, 29% faced more than 50 new actions.
In its annual U.S. Litigation Trends Survey, 251 in-house counsel from various industries in the United States and 107 in the United Kingdom were polled on their views of global litigation trends.
The survey found that 85% of insurance companies faced at least one new lawsuit last year, with 67% facing six or more new suits in the past year. And 21% of the insurance companies surveyed reported facing at least one US$20-million action.
Of those surveyed, 36% of insurance companies expect litigation to increase in the next year, while only 12% are expecting a drop in suits, says a Fulbright release.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of the insurance firms reporting in the Fulbright study said that they spent at least US$5 million on litigation, excluding costs of settlements and judgements, while 53% reported spending more than US$1 million per year on business disputes, a release says.
Insurance companies’ in-house law departments reported insurance matters (70%) were their biggest concern, followed by contracts (56%) and labour/employment (39%).