Sixty-eight percent of technology companies faced at least one new lawsuit this past year, with 30% having faced six or more. And 29% of the technology companies surveyed reported facing at least one $20 million action. This, according to the U.S. Litigation Trends survey by the law firm Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

The survey shows that litigation has become a major line item in technology company budgets, with 14% of the technology firms reporting saying that they spent at least $5 million on litigation, excluding costs of settlements and judgments, while 47% reported spending more than $1 million per year on business disputes.

The Fulbright & Jaworski Litigation Trends survey is designed to take a macro look at the landscape for business disputes. The survey reports on findings from multiple industries, as well as breakdowns by company size and region. Technology companies’ in-house law departments reported Contracts Matters (69%) were their biggest concern, followed by IP/Patents (62%) and Labor/Employment (59%).

Twenty-four percent of technology companies expect litigation to increase in 2009, while only 9% are expecting a drop in suits. This comes after two consecutive years of reported declines in the number of new lawsuits and regulatory proceedings, including a drop in large-dollar cases.

For a link to complete survey findings and a descriptive “white paper” go to www.fulbright.com/litigationtrends28.