WASHINGTON--Businesses could face new litigation in three broad areas, according to a high-profile critic of the current civil justice system.

Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the New York-based Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy and the author of "The Litigation Explosion" and "The Rule of Lawyers," cited environmental, reparations and labor lawsuits as possible headaches for employers in the future.

These are areas where activists and government authorities could join forces with the trial bar to seek damages for alleged wrongs that were, in some cases, committed decades ago, he said.

For example, the descendants of Mexican workers deported from California in the 1930s may seek reparations from businesses they believe had a role in the deportation, he said.

Mr. Olson made his comments at a legal reform summit presented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform in Washington on Monday.