(Reuters) – You know who is not at all worried about a recession in 2023?
Big firm litigators, that’s who.
If there is a silver lining amid darkening economic clouds, it is shining on corporate litigators, who have all kinds of reasons to anticipate strong demand for their services next year. In a nutshell, said Sullivan & Cromwell co-chair Robert Giuffra, “Bad economic times are good for litigation.”
Litigators from both sides of the bar are anticipating that government enforcement actions will generate significant work in the next year. President Joe Biden’s agencies have had two years to install personnel and announce policies. As the administration heads into its third year, said corporate litigators from S&C, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, we should expect a quicker pace of regulatory actions from agencies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as from the U.S. Justice Department.
That’s especially true because the administration’s legislative agenda will likely be stymied with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives. Regulatory enforcement is an alternative way to set policy and make headlines.
As federal enforcement ramps up, so too will follow-on actions by state attorneys general and class action lawyers. State AGs are increasingly adept at organizing group actions – and…
