New York Times
Large banks, hedge funds and private investors hungry for new and lucrative opportunities are bankrolling other people’s lawsuits, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into medical malpractice claims, divorce battles and class actions against corporations — all in the hope of sharing in the potential winnings. [Interactive Graphic] [Graphic]
In some cases, but not all, this new phenomenon of third-party funding could lead to cases being decided or settled on the basis of merit. In other cases, it conceivably could have the opposite effect, giving artificial "legs" to bogus claims that would otherwise fall flat. But I wonder whether sophisticated investors would bet on bogus claims, when they can fund meritorious ones instead. In any event, another effect of this trend probably will be a further acceleration of the shift to offshore legal outsourcing. Corporate legal departments, already under cost pressure, will see that pressure increase, with the rise of well-funded plaintiffs' suits. And litigation investors, eager to get the best possible return, and treating litigation as a business, naturally will want to increase efficiencies through legal process outsourcing. So one of the big winners in the lawsuit funding area is likely to be the LPO industry.
ReplyDeletePriya Kumar
http://www.sddglobal.com
high-end legal outsourcing