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The lack of safeguards in third party litigation funding (TPLF) provides a clear path for foreign adversaries to undermine U.S. national economic and security interests through the infiltration of the American litigation system.

ILR Briefly: A New Threat: The National Security Risk of Third Party Litigation Funding makes the case that few barriers exist to prevent a person or entity acting on behalf of a foreign adversary like China or Russia from covertly financing litigation against U.S. companies. Their incentives to do so are clear: By fostering strategic litigation against targeted U.S. companies or entire sectors, a foreign adversary could realize a range of objectives, whether advantaging their own competing industries, accessing sensitive information through the litigation process, or degrading the U.S. economy and weakening its national security. And through TPLF, an adversary can pursue these goals with little risk of their involvement ever coming to light.

ILR’s research offers a deep dive into TPLF’s troubling implications for national security and offers a range of legislative and executive solutions to address this intolerable weak point in America’s national security architecture.


Author

Michael E. Leiter, John H. Beisner, Jordan M. Schwartz, James E. Perry, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom L.L.P.