The 2019 Carlton Fields Class Action Survey, which was released in April, has been featured in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Corporate Counsel, Law360, American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily, Employment Law Daily, Insurance Journal, Property Casualty 360, Daily Business Review, and the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
The eighth annual survey reveals a continuing rise in class action defense spending, driven by more matters per company facing these cases, and, collectively, more complex, high risk, and bet-the-company matters than ever reported in past surveys. In total, companies spent $2.46 billion defending class actions in 2018 and spending and the number of class actions defended by company are expected to increase again in 2019.
“As predicted, class action defense spending rose again in 2018 and this is likely to continue through 2019,” said Julianna McCabe, director of Carlton Fields’ Class Action Survey and chair of the firm’s National Class Actions practice group. “As the resources and financing available to pursue these costly matters have become increasingly available, the volume and complexity of the class actions filed continues to rise. In-house legal departments are dedicating significant resources to these cases and relying on outside counsel for help in making early assessments of their win-loss probabilities, among other factors.”
The 2019 Carlton Fields Class Action Survey is based on interviews with general counsel or senior legal officers at 395 Fortune 1000 and other large companies across a variety of industries.
©2026 Carlton Fields, P.A. Carlton Fields practices law in California through Carlton Fields, LLP. Carlton Fields publications should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information and educational purposes only, and should not be relied on as if it were advice about a particular fact situation. The distribution of this publication is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship with Carlton Fields. This publication may not be quoted or referred to in any other publication or proceeding without the prior written consent of the firm, to be given or withheld at our discretion. To request reprint permission for any of our publications, please use our Contact Us form via the link below. The views set forth herein are the personal views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the firm. This site may contain hypertext links to information created and maintained by other entities. Carlton Fields does not control or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this outside information, nor is the inclusion of a link to be intended as an endorsement of those outside sites.
Related Capabilities
Media Contact
Senior Public Relations and Communications Manager
