USA – ILLINOIS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Steven P. Blonder, Much Shelist
to claims that a product is carbon-neutral. Apple is one of the most recent defendants of such a claim. In February 2025, Apple was sued over allegations that its Apple Watch and whether the carbon offset projects Apple relied on to achieve neutrality actu- ally provided real reductions in carbon emissions. The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs paid a premium for an Apple Watch in reliance on Apple’s sustainability claims. “Clean” and “sustainable” are marketing words that are often used. Yet these words are currently giving rise to false advertising claims, proving once again that language matters. And the risk is not only of a false advertising suit. For public companies, if their marketing claims about a product lead to a decrease in the stock price, a derivative or securities claim will likely follow. Litigation costs continue to rise The discovery process in litigation used to be char- acterised by teams of lawyers visiting warehouses where documents were maintained and reviewing those documents page by page in search of the pro- verbial “smoking gun” – identifying which documents had to be produced in discovery and which docu- ments might be left untouched, hidden in a company’s annals. However, this rarely happens today, given that most company information is stored electronically.
Yet the electronic storage of information has not, in consequence, decreased the cost of litigation – it has increased it. The vast amount of electronically stored information means that there is so much more data to be collected and combed through. Companies are required to store their data or may face claims that they have spoliated information, which can often have drastic consequences. And there is often a significant imbalance in information, meaning costs related to e-discovery are disproportionately borne by one party to a dispute. The end result of this mountain of information is that the timeframe for a typical piece of litigation gets extended and the associated costs continue to rise. Where does US commercial litigation go from here? Litigation will always exist. Business disputes exist and plaintiffs’ lawyers will continue to explore new causes of action as businesses take steps to minimise risks based on existing types of claims. As long as insurance companies do not adopt a business model of paying out on every asserted claim, insurance litiga- tion will continually be on the court dockets. Recent litigation trends are not likely to disappear in 2026. Companies need to assess these trends from a strategic perspective and consider how business operations may be affected. There are certainly steps that can be taken to minimise risk; however, litigation risk cannot be avoided completely.
1226 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook