By KENT HOOVER
American City Business Journals

More U.S. companies managed to avoid lawsuits this year, says a survey conducted by law firm Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

A survey of in-house counsel at 250 companies found that 17 percent didn't have to defend a single lawsuit over the past year, up from 11 percent the previous year. Regulatory actions by federal agencies also were down; 48 percent of companies faced them this year, compared with 52 percent last year.

U.S. companies also are suing other businesses less often. Only 65 percent of in-house counsel said they had initiated a lawsuit in the past year, compared with 70 percent in the previous year.

That doesn't mean, however, that litigation is no longer a worry for corporate America. Securities lawsuits may be down, thanks to a healthy stock market and tighter accounting controls, but patent cases and product-liability lawsuits are up.

Labor and employment matters once again were the largest source of lawsuits.