Emerging issues in third-party litigation funding: What antitrust lawyers need to know

Both antitrust litigation and third-party funding are increasing globally. Indeed, the two phenomena may feed off each other—more funders fund antitrust litigation because there is more of it, and there is more of it because there is more funding. Third-party litigation funding generally means that someone other than a party, party’s counsel, or other entity with a preexisting contractual relationship with the party (like an indemnitor or liability insurer) provides non-recourse funding for a dispute. In its early days, funding involved a third-party investor’s providing funds to prosecute a plaintiff’s claim (often personal injury) in exchange for a portion of the settlement or judgment proceeds from the case. Today, the increasing prevalence of third-party funding has precipitated a number of related legal developments around the world. It looks like third-party funding is here to stay and we, as antitrust lawyers, need to know more about it.

In this article we discuss the basics of third-party litigation funding and various funding-related regulatory and legal developments. We interviewed a number of third-party litigation funders while preparing the article, and provide their perspectives and insights. Our focus is on the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada because the funders we interviewed identified those jurisdictions as the most attractive prospects for litigation funding in our interviews (although Canada to a lesser extent).

Read the full article: Emerging issues in third-party litigation funding What antitrust lawyers need to know