What are the biggest “business challenges” facing general counsel? Some 80 percent of GCs identified top business challenges as increased pressure on legal budgets, staffing and spending, according to a recent survey from Burford Capital. That represents close to a 10 percent jump over the number cited last year.

Contrast this result with outside lawyers’ top challenges listed in the survey as demand for discounted fees (cited by 74 percent) and more need for business development (cited by 71 percent).

Contributing to these challenges is the fact that there is increasing acceptance by companies of third-party litigation funding. In fact, chief financial officers (CFOs) like it more than even attorneys – whether in-house or those working at law firms.

Litigation financing basically involves those transactions where “value of a litigation claim is used to obtain financing,” Burford Capital explained in a statement. “A provider of finance covers the expenses of bringing a legal proceeding in exchange for a return tied to the outcome of the case (such as a portion of damages).” In fact, litigation financing means disputes can be considered an asset on balance sheets. Often, companies will hire a law firm and Burford Capital will pay legal fees to the firm with an expectation of a future return.

According to the survey on litigation funding by Burford Capital, 78 percent of CFOs said it was a “useful tool,” compared to 72 percent of outside counsel and 69 percent of general counsel who were questioned in the survey.

Read original article


Tags: