Carlton Fields recently released its sixth annual Class Action Survey, which is based on detailed interviews with general counsel and senior legal officers at 373 companies operating in more than 25 industries. Those individuals shared their thoughts and best practices on class action exposure and management. Highlights from this year's survey include data on the types of class actions companies faced in 2016 and the likely next wave of class action.
Class-Actions By Type
Companies faced different volumes of class actions in different practice areas than in past years. Overall, companies' class action spending across industries increased for the second consecutive year, reversing a downward trend that occurred between 2011 and 2014. In 2016, labor and employment cases accounted for the largest category of class actions, representing 37.7 percent of all class actions, which was a notable increase from 2015, when the percentage was just 24.1. The increase was due, in significant part, to a surge in wage and hour claims, particularly in California. Intellectual property class actions also increased significantly, jumping from 0.1 percent in 2015 to 7.5 percent in 2016. Securities actions increased from 7.3 percent to 9.6 percent. Consumer fraud cases decreased significantly, from 24.6 percent in 2015 to 19 percent. The percentage of products liability cases remained roughly consistent at 10.1 percent, and antitrust cases decreased slightly from 7.6 percent in 2015 to 6.5 percent.
Read the full 2017 Class Action Survey here.
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