Leading companies remain in the dark about ways to manage the spiralling costs of litigation even as the financial crisis threatens a wave of high-stakes lawsuits, according to new research.

An Ipsos Mori survey commissioned by Addleshaw Goddard, the law firm, found that half the FTSE 350 executives interviewed knew nothing about options such as "after the event'' insurance or "third party funding", where unconnected companies would put up the money for a claim in return for a share of the proceeds.