Publication
WHS Law Briefing
Welcome to our WHS Law Briefing. This briefing identifies key issues and emerging trends in WHS Law, and details significant legislative and case law developments from August 2024 to date in February 2025.
Class actions
2025 Annual Litigation Trends Survey
United States | Publication | January 2025
Norton Rose Fulbright’s 2025 Annual Litigation Trends Survey reveals that nearly a quarter (24%) of all respondents experienced class action litigation in the last year, remaining essentially flat versus the year prior. Employment and labor actions – a perennial pain point for organizations – were the most common variety, experienced by approximately half (52%) of those who saw class action litigation over the past year, with nearly the same share (51%) voicing concern about future class actions in this area. This risk is accentuated for organizations in more employee-friendly jurisdictions.
Consumer protection was the second most common type of class action, cited by 41% of respondents who experienced them in 2024 – comparable to the previous year. This area was also cited by about half (49%) of respondents concerned about class actions in 2025.
ESG is another growing issue, cited by 15% of respondents who experienced class actions (compared to 11% last year). Major class action cases concerning socially conscious investing and involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs could be a potential harbinger of what’s to come as ESG remains in the political crosshairs.
Relatedly, the share of respondents involved in a toxic tort and environmental class action doubled, growing to 21% from 10% of those that experienced some type of class action.
As organizations deal with the fallout from cyberattacks and data leaks, approximately one-third of respondents involved in a class action over the past 12 months cited cybersecurity, data protection and data privacy litigation.
Mass arbitration fees may play a role. As companies started to incorporate class action waivers into their terms of use, the plaintiffs’ bar adopted an alternative strategy of filing thousands of individual arbitration claims. Defendant companies, faced with filing fees for individual claims that could collectively cost millions of dollars – potentially more than class action alternatives – are incentivized to settle these claims and consider removing such waivers.
Download the 2025 Annual Litigation Trends Survey report for more details.
Key litigation trends
Contacts
Head of Litigation and Disputes, United States
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steven.jansma@nortonrosefulbright.com
Deputy General Counsel, Compliance
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mayling.blanco@nortonrosefulbright.com
Co-Head of Litigation and Disputes, Houston
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kimberly.cheeseman@nortonrosefulbright.com
US Head of Technology and US Head of eDiscovery and Information Governance
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andrea.dambra@nortonrosefulbright.com
Partner
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stephanie.debrow@nortonrosefulbright.com
Co-Head of Litigation and Disputes, Chicago
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josh.lee@nortonrosefulbright.com
Partner, Canadian National Chair, Litigation and Disputes
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francois-david.pare@nortonrosefulbright.com
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