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Legal Technology, Advanced Analytics, and the Impact of the Pandemic on Innovation In the Automotive Industry

By Tariq Hafeez
September 01, 2020

Prior to the pandemic, the automotive industry was already experiencing a confluence of events prompting the sector's most impactful shift of the 21st century. From managing litigation risks and preparing for a driverless future to navigating a dynamically changing labor and employment landscape and traversing a precarious trade environment, car manufacturers have been on the precipice of an unprecedented pivot. Add the consequences of COVID-19 and car makers are seeing a global realignment of their businesses and customer preferences.

Prior to mid-March, the volume of litigation was increasing exponentially with rising vehicle sales. In February of 2020 alone, over 17 million cars were sold in the United States. (See, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, February 2020 Total Vehicle Sales [TOTALSA], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, March 24, 2020.) That pace has likely slowed given the nationwide court closures, but the data privacy and cybersecurity uncertainty associated with connected cars could threaten still the industry's long-term success.

Despite an overall slowdown in litigation matters filed in courts across the country early on in the pandemic, industry analytics expect litigation to not only return to normal levels, but to increase. (See, "Pandemic is Expected to Bring More Lawsuits, and More Backers," New York Times, June 19, 2020.) This trend will be felt more poignantly in the automotive space, as lawsuits abound around driverless cars and other autonomous vehicle technology.

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