Australia Should Brace For An Increase In Lawsuits If Third Party Litigation Funders Are Deregulated.

As Australia’s parliament debates changes to regulations for third party litigation funding (TPLF),  a recent piece in The Australian by columnist Janet Albrechtsen explains what could happen if TPLF is deregulated.

Albrechetsen says litigation funders “are adept at cloaking their rich rewards in fluffy language about access to justice” and are “dependent on a steady stream of lawsuits.” She points to a 2010 move that released litigation funders from the usual rules that apply to other financial services firms. That decision led to “a litigation funding industry that can be as morally bankrupt as a casino where the house never loses.”

“If, in government, Labor, together with the Greens, repeats Bowen’s mistake and deregulates litigation funders again, the country should prepare for a tsunami of lawsuits pursued by a wider array of sharks and shysters among litigation funders,” Albrechtsen wrote.