The ILR Research Review offers valuable insights from our preeminent experts and specialists on key topics addressed in ILR’s recent research reports.
In this issue of the ILR Research Review, we look at the latest trends in litigation and the tactics and strategies entrepreneurial plaintiffs’ firms are using to expand their business models and bring more lawsuits in local, state, federal, and international courts. Some of the trends explored include:
- Lawsuits are targeting emerging technologies such as drones and self-driving cars, and these technologies are developing faster than public policy. While local, state, and federal governments are looking at how best to address potential liability, plaintiffs’ firms are using the uncertainty to their advantage and threatening innovation with lawsuits.
- A growing number of plaintiffs’ firms are using grocery store aisles as inspiration for lawsuits. Plaintiffs’ firms are targeting food labeling, such as “natural,” the packaging of products, and product advertising to bring frivolous lawsuits on behalf of consumers.
- An examination of the ‘state of play’ of collective redress in 10 EU Member States revealed class action models are proliferating in the EU, and ILR’s research suggests minimum necessary safeguards to prevent litigation abuse taking hold in Europe.
