Reasons Behind the Continued Rise in U.S. Commercial Litigation

Steve Blonder, principal in Much’s Commercial Litigation group, authored the Illinois Trends and Developments section of the 2026 Chambers Litigation guide. In the piece, Blonder examines how both the number of lawsuits and the cost of litigation continue to rise, driven in part by the increasing price of electronic discovery. He also highlights the growing use of AI in litigation and the increased frequency of class actions, trade secret lawsuits, data breach litigation, cyber incidents, and privacy suits.