More than one-third of general counsel in a recent survey said the number of legal disputes their companies have been involved in increased during the last 12 months. And only 7 percent said they'd seen a decrease.

The "Litigation and Corporate Compliance Survey," conducted by business consultants AlixPartners, is based on a survey of more than 100 general counsel at companies with annual revenues of $250 million or more, primarily in the United States.