Civil Litigation Survey of Chief Legal Officers and General Counsel Belonging to the Association of Corporate Counsel

Abstract

This Report sets forth the results of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System’s civil litigation survey of Chief Legal Officers and General Counsel belonging to the Association of Corporate Counsel. This survey explored the opinions of those who lead corporate legal departments – one per company – in an effort to capture how businesses experience the American civil justice process. The survey’s goal was to achieve a better understanding of the litigant’s perspective. While businesses are certainly a specific category of litigants, they are an important one, and their often repeat contact with the civil justice system is relevant to obtaining a complete picture of the status of that system. The global research questions included: - What does civil litigation in U.S. courts currently look like for companies? - Are there inefficiencies in the system that can or should be addressed? - What are the benefits and drawbacks of the current discovery process? - What is the impact of electronic discovery? - Does alternative dispute resolution provide a satisfactory alternative to litigation? - How can the American civil justice system be improved?