Litigation Finance Can Fix the Gender Gap

Over the past several decades, women lawyers have become more prevalent. In 1960, less than 1 in 25 lawyers were women. Today, more than 1 in 3 lawyers are women. While this is a great improvement, we are still far from gender equality in the legal field. Female attorneys still earn less than their male counterparts. Women are still underrepresented in leadership positions.

How Can Litigation Finance Help?

As an extension of the historical chronic underinvestment in women, the progress towards gender equality in the legal field has been hindered. Today, some litigation finance firms have taken it upon themselves to directly invest into and fund women-led litigation matters. One of the pioneers in this initiative is Burford Capital. Burford explained the harsh reality: there is a paucity of litigation matters where a woman is in a leading role. Often times, teams do not include women at all. With the help of litigation financing, women in the legal profession are able to take advantage of more opportunities.

Litigation financing initiatives dedicated to gender equality incentivize and recognize women in the legal industry, helping to close the gender gap. Through litigation finance, women can:

• Showcase their financial savviness and leadership capabilities by reaching recovery objectives without cost or risk to their business.
• Display their innovative skills and ambition attitudes by obtaining clientele and assisting them properly.
• Feel empowered to seek leadership roles in litigation matters.

Litigation finance can help solve the pervasive issue of gender inequality in the legal industry. Initiatives within the field help create more opportunities for women. Meanwhile, the lawyers’ clients are offered unique solutions to help create and further their business. Undoubtedly, we have made much progress over the past decades; litigation finance can aid in closing the remaining gap of gender inequality.

Topics: litigation finance, third-party funding, litigation funding, litigation costs, gender inequality, women

Works Cited:

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IN HIGHER EDUCATION, 29 Harv. J.L. & Gender 247

Financing: Why it matters for women and girls, UN Women,

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/financing-for-gender-equality (last visited Jun 9, 2020).

Jennifer Cheeseman Day, Number of Women Lawyers At Record High But Men Still Highest

Earners The United States Census Bureau (2019), https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/05/women-lawyers.html (last visited Jun 9, 2020).

The Equity Project, Burford Capital,

https://burfordcapital.com/about-burford/citizenship/projects-container/the-equity-project/ (last visited Jun 14, 2020).