Litigation Finance Opening Doors for Plaintiffs
While laws continually change and evolve, many believe that the legal system is stagnant. Things have continually been done the same way for years and years. However, new innovations such as litigation finance are in fact changing the system and producing growth.
It may not be a procedural change that people notice from the outside looking in. But litigation finance allows plaintiffs more opportunities to bring claims that they may not have been able to bring just a decade ago due to a lack of resources. It allows plaintiffs to enforce their rights and seek justice either in court or through another form of dispute resolution using the attorney of their choosing.
Litigation financing also benefits attorneys. The use of litigation financing means attorneys and firms do not have to change their rates or compromise their pay structure to represent clients and take on new cases. Additionally, litigation finance also allows firms to compete for cases so that there is the best chance for a favorable outcome for the client.
Furthermore, litigation finance provides opportunities to seek global remedies. According to Dilip Massand of SAS Asset Recovery in Dubai, “litigation finance has served to allow parties in one jurisdiction to pursue their rights and remedies in other jurisdictions where they may not have confidence in rule of law, or transparency into the legal process – not only in terms of finance, but also in terms of enforcement and collection of foreign judgments and arbitration awards.” This cross-jurisdictional impact allows for justice for more individuals and smaller parties than we’ve had in the past.
The use of litigation finance is rapidly growing, signifying a strong demand for the resource. Whereas, litigation demand has been flat in the past decade, reports are now showing a growth in the past few years, which is thought to be at least partly attributable to new innovations in the legal field such as litigation finance.
Topics: litigation finance, legal reform, litigation costs, third-party funding
Works Cited: Sanjay Kamlani and David Perla, Taste the Soup! Innovation is Hiding in Plain Sight in the Legal Profession, Above the Law (February 27, 2018)