New York lawyers are bracing for a surge of white-collar criminal and civil cases stemming from market volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, former prosecutors told the New York Law Journal this week.

The attorneys said the expected upswing is likely to mirror trends that followed the dot-com bubble of the turn of the century and the financial crisis of 2008. However, they added, investigations may be slowed and trials delayed as a result of court shutdowns imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.