Litigation finance, a practice whereby investors agree to fund a lawsuit in exchange for a cut of the winnings if the action succeeds, could become a factor in labor and employment cases, an official with a litigation funding company told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 26.
Litigation finance “has been most prominent in large commercial disputes,” Jonathan Molot, chief investment officer of Burford Capital said, “but there are plenty of occasions where litigation could be useful in the labor and employment space.” Burford Capital is a major litigation finance firm with offices throughout the world.
The availability of funds from an outside source could help to level the playing field between parties who have disparate levels of money available to wage legal war. Such funding could help persuade a lawyer to take a case that has a promising outcome but which could drag on for a long time. It also could prevent a litigant from rushing to accept a settlement offer.
