Lex Machina is excited to release its regional report, Employment Litigation in the Southeast. This report focuses on Employment Litigation in federal district courts located in the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits. These districts are located in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
Legal analytics is used for planning, business development, and litigation strategy. Readers can compare their home district to others to gain insight about areas of particular focus. The metrics in this report may help readers decide whom to pursue as clients, which claims to include in a complaint, or when to settle. This research supplements traditional legal research and anecdotal data for a competitive edge in litigation.

Highlights include:

  • Plaintiffs filed over 68,000 Employment cases in the region since 2009. In each of the last ten years, over 6,000 Employment cases were filed.
  • Exceptionally large numbers of cases were filed in 2012 and 2015, due to a large number of related cases filed in those years alleging FLSA violations.
  • The most active plaintiffs’ law firm, Morgan & Morgan, filed nearly 700 cases from 2016 to 2018. It filed cases in 14 of the 18 districts in the region. Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart was the most active defendants’ law firm with over 1,000 cases and appearances in all 18 districts.
  • Two Walmart-related entities were named in the most suits in the region, followed by the USPS and Sandbox Transportation, LLC.
  • Case resolutions and findings overwhelmingly favor employers with a large number of decisions made at the summary judgment stage in this practice area.

Lex Machina’s “Employment” case type includes cases with one or more claims of employment law violation, including: 1) discrimination, harassment, or retaliation under federal employment law based in civil rights; 2) wage and hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); or 3) interference and retaliation claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which often relate to leave and absence issues.

Request a copy of the report here.