Legal Officers and GCs Ask for Litigation Funding Transparency

A group of 30 chief legal officers and general counsel sent a letter to the chief counsel and secretary of the Federal Rules Committee calling for full disclosure of third party litigation funding (TPLF), The Recorder reports.

The letter supports an earlier petition from trade associations like the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) that called on the committee to require the full disclosure of funding agreements in civil cases. The signers of yesterday’s letter say that funders “buy a piece of the case” and become interested parties. Defendants and courts “have a right to know who has a stake in a lawsuit and to assess whether they are using illegal or unethical means to bring the action.”

In a blog post yesterday, ILR President Lisa A. Rickard said TPLF “can put investors’ interests ahead of plaintiffs’, leads to more lawsuits in our over-sued society, and unnecessarily prolongs litigation.”