Abstract:  We use data on the universe of 3,000 ongoing formal real estate projects in Mumbai to show that 30 percent of the projects and around 50 percent of the built-up space is under litigation. On average, construction takes around 8.5 years to complete. This paper investigates the causal relationship between litigation and completion time of real estate projects in Mumbai. Even after controlling for experience of the developers, we find that litigated projects take 20 percent longer to complete. We address our endogeneity concerns, using an instrument – the neighborhood’s propensity to sue, and find that litigation increases time taken for completion a project by 58 percent.