Dive Brief:

• Nearly two-thirds of GCs and in-house counsel said their organizations faced labor and employment disputes last year and more than half cited such issues as one of the most concerning litigation areas in the year ahead, according to Norton Rose Fulbright’s 2023 Annual Litigation Trends Survey.
• Meanwhile, 42% of respondents cited cybersecurity, data protection and data privacy as a concerning litigation area in 2023, with only labor and employment disputes being a greater area of concern.
• Survey respondents on average allocated 22% of their annual litigation spend to personnel and other in-house expenses last year, compared to 14% in 2021. Additionally, more than one-third of respondents expect the number of in-house litigators at their companies to increase in 2023, the report said.

Dive Insight:

The return to in-office work is one likely driver of the significant in-house concerns about labor and employment disputes, with 35% of respondents expecting more exposure to such issues in 2023.

Return-to-office policies can lead to more litigation involving allegations of discrimination and harassment, according to the 18th edition of Norton Rose Fulbright’s litigation trends survey.

Meanwhile, remote work and hybrid schedules present employers challenges around employment termination.

“This includes everything from trade secret theft to complaints going out the door and severance negotiation,” Jamila Mensah, a Norton Rose Fulbright employment partner, said in the...

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