A report entitled “2008: Seeking Relief” recently released by Navigant Consulting, Inc. states that 576 federal lawsuits centered around the subprime credit crisis were filed in 2008, nearly double the amount filed in 2007.  The largest number of cases, 179, were filed in the first quarter of 2008, but subprime-related cases continued to be filed at a rate of more than 100 per quarter for the rest of the year, propelled by securities class actions and the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.  Securities class actions made up 34 percent of the cases, followed by class actions brought by borrowers at 24 percent, commercial contract disputes at 17 percent, employment class actions at 8 percent and bankruptcy and other filings at 5 percent.  The report also shows that a total of 866 federal subprime cases have been filed since January 1, 2007, with 70 percent of those cases still active at the end of 2008.

For a copy of the Navigant report, please click here.