A study done by Navigant Consulting (NYSE:NCI) found that 170 lawsuits related to subprime write-downs were filed by shareholders in the first quarter of 2008, up from 89 in the final quarter of 2007, The New York Times reported.

Financial companies UBS, Merrill Lynch, MBIA and Morgan Stanley (AMEX:BWN) are among the list of defendants in various cases, the Times reported.

"The wave of litigation" will likely "eclipse what we saw out of the savings and loan crisis" Jeff Nielsen, managing director at Navigant Consulting, told the Times.

The common pattern for lawsuits is for plaintiffs to claim the company knew its value was overrated or its investments were riskier than their promotional material led investors to believe.

But, recent Supreme Court rulings are making these lawsuits harder to win, the Times said.

Plaintiffs must now show the fraud was intentional.

"More than merely plausible or reasonable," justices ruled in a decision in May, a fraud case must show evidence "at least as compelling as any opposing inference of nonfraudulent intent."