Crowell & Moring Releases Litigation Forecast 2021: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year

How COVID-19 Will Impact Litigation and the Courts

Washington – January 13, 2021: Crowell & Moring has released Litigation Forecast 2021: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year. The ninth annual Litigation Forecast focuses on the front page story this year: how the COVID pandemic is transforming litigation from remote depositions to virtual juries and backlogged dockets to new types of cases and opportunities. 

In the feature article “How COVID Is Changing Litigation—Today and Tomorrow,” Nathaniel Bualat, Amanda Shafer Berman, and Valerie Goo take a deep dive into ways the courts and counsel are adapting to the pandemic, and how some of those changes are here to stay. The pandemic accelerated the rapid adoption of new technology and procedures—bringing depositions, oral arguments, and even trials to the virtual environment. The article explores the challenges of virtual court proceedings and what litigators will need to keep in mind—from assessing juror reactions to the impact of remote witness testimony.

“Over the last year, the courts and counsel have innovated their operations and practices to keep the wheels of justice in motion,” said Philip T. Inglima, chair of Crowell & Moring. “Our Litigation Forecast helps in-house counsel understand how the courts have changed in the wake of the pandemic and to anticipate the impact of those changes on their litigation strategies far into the future.”

In the article “New Litigation Frontiers Brought to You by COVID,” Chalana Damron, Allyson McKinstry, and Luke van Houwelingen examine how COVID has put new stress on business relationships and driven new litigation with respect to force majeure clauses, safety standards, commercial leases, and other areas. In “Courts Reopen—Or Try To,” Rochelle-Leigh Rosenberg and Andrew Holmer provide insight into how the courts are working to reopen and respond to an increasing backlog, despite a lack of national standard for virtual operations and unpredictable pandemic spikes.

All of the articles from the Forecast are available at www.crowell.com/LitigationForecast. Follow the conversation on social media with #LitigationForecast.