Business disputes: US firms have targeted biggest cases
The investment of US law firms in the UK litigation market is paying off, according to new figures which show them involved in one in five Commercial Court cases.
US firms “have evidently established themselves as a go-to choice for the most complex, highest-value and most trial-intensive disputes in London”, said litigation analytics platform Solomonic.
Solomonic showed how US firms have concentrated their efforts at the very top of the market.
While they accounted for around 4% of all claims by volume between 2020 and 2025, the median claim value of those claims was around £10m, 13x the all-firm average of £740,000.
They also lived up to the US reputation of being more aggressive litigators, with claims involving US firms reaching a judicial outcome 21% of the time, compared to a 9% average for all claims.
Conversely, US firm cases settled 79% of the time, compared to 91% for other firms.
“The figures suggest that US firms are disproportionately involved in the most hard-fought, high-stakes disputes,” Solomonic said.
“Whether that reflects client profile, litigation strategy, case selection or practice focus, it points to a requirement for issue to trial case strategy and management capabilities.”
Almost one in five cases in the Commercial Court now involves a US firm and they were “embedded” in some of the most complex, cross‑border and highest-value dispute categories, with clear specialisation emerging by dispute type, such as competition, arbitration and enforcement.
Their involvement was split equally between claimant and defendant.
Between 2020 and 2025, the most active US firm by claim count was Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan (182 cases), followed by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Reed Smith (both around 155), Jones Day (120) and Morgan Lewis & Bockius (108).
Close behind were Baker McKenzie and Scott & Scott, both involved in 99 claims.
The research concluded: “The data confirms that US firms have executed a high-value, high-complexity strategy in the English jurisdiction that has reshaped the market.
“US firms have not sought to compete across the full breadth of English litigation – they have targeted the most financially and strategically significant disputes.
“US firms have established themselves at the premium end of the market: higher-value disputes, more complex litigation, stronger trial exposure and a growing footprint in the Commercial Court and competition sphere.”
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