Litigation increasingly occurs in various venues, from state and federal courts to private arbitrations and administrative hearings. Proceedings can involve business-to-business disputes or any number of government agencies. Understanding the motivations and outlook of each of the litigation participants is important for determining weak points to exploit and strong points that will persuade the audience in question. During the past decade, commercial litigators have seen a dramatic uptick in multidistrict and inter-disciplinary litigation, making the stakes higher, the cases more complex, the parties more numerous and the discovery more complicated and unwieldy. Firms that are able to develop and implement a creative legal approach to each individual problem, efficiently focus on the key legal and factual issues, and master and manage the various aspects of these complex matters will be the busiest in the years to come.
In the current challenging economic climate, commercial litigators are under increasing client pressure to keep costs in check, which has both sides testing the efficacy of alternative fee arrangements and the scope of reasonable discovery. Whether the “death of the billable hour” is ultimately realized, the keys to a commercial litigator’s success will continue to be strong client relationships, thought leadership, practical management skills, deep experience, and personal commitment.","DefinitionIsActive":true,"DefinitionCanDisplay":true,"DefinitionAuthorHtml":"Brad D. Brian","DefinitionAuthorFirmId":12813,"DefinitionAuthorFirmName":"Munger, Tolles & Olson","DefinitionAuthorFirmHasProfile":false,"DefinitionAuthorFirmHasBlfProfile":false,"DefinitionAuthorFirmProfileImageUrl":"https://cdn.blrankings.com/best-lawyers/firm-profile-images/munger-tolles-olson-us-12813?t=2021021118131756","DefinitionAuthorFirmBlfProfileUrl":null,"DefinitionAuthorFirmProfileUrl":null,"OverviewHtml":"","OverviewCanDisplay":false,"OverviewAuthorHtml":"","OverviewViewUrl":"https://www.bestlawyers.com/united-states/commercial-litigation","OverviewIsActive":false,"OverviewAuthorFirmId":null,"OverviewAuthorFirmName":null,"OverviewAuthorFirmHasProfile":false,"OverviewAuthorFirmHasBlfProfile":false,"OverviewAuthorFirmProfileImageUrl":null,"OverviewAuthorFirmProfileUrl":null,"DefinitionViewUrl":"https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology/practice-areas/united-states/commercial-litigation","OverviewAuthorFirmBlfProfileUrl":null,"LexicographicSortName":"414","SearchItemType":90,"SearchItemTypeName":"PracticeAreaDefinition","SearchSortOrder":16,"SortTitle":"414","HideFromSearch":false}};