Litigation Finance Enters the “Mainstream”
In an op-ed in Financier Worldwide today, ILR president Lisa. A Rickard addresses the staggering growth of third-party litigation funding (TPLF) and the recent trends associated with the practice, such as portfolio investments and litigation funding startups.
“Investor groups are pouring unprecedented sums of money into financing litigation in the world’s largest litigation market,” writes Rickard along with Shook, Hardy and Bacon partner Mark Behrens.
“Business and civil justice organisations, such as the US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, believe that third-party litigation funding may lead to the filing of speculative, potentially high-yield lawsuits, because litigation funders absorb some of the risk in litigation and can spread it across a portfolio of cases and among investors.”
The article provides suggested TPLF reforms, including the development of procedural rules to require disclosure of TPLF funding. “Courts need to know about the presence of a third-party in the litigation to determine how to impose sanctions or other costs.”
Read the full op-ed here.
