The L.A. Business Journal Talks with Allison Chock about Uptick in U.S. Litigation Funding Industry

Over the past several years, the legal marketplace has seen the advent and rise of the litigation finance industry in the United States. In “Litigation Costs Go Third Party,” the L.A. Business Journal reported on the upward growth of the industry and its evolution from funding mostly single one-off cases to a portfolio of cases. “It’s not just small and medium-sized firms who want litigation funding, but large firms and big businesses are approaching us as well,” Bentham’s Allison Chock told the Business Journal. She also pointed to in-house legal departments showing an increasing interest in using litigation finance. “We’re starting to get more and more Fortune 200 companies who could pay for their litigation expenses but want to explore other options,” she said.

Ms. Chock explained to the Business Journal how Peter Thiel’s financial backing of Terry Bollea’s (a.k.a. Hulk Hogan) lawsuit against Gawker Media, served as an example of why litigation finance is such a growth industry, despite the fact that Thiel’s funding was motivated by very different reasons than the reasons that motivate investments by litigation funders. “We’ve got this incredibly expensive justice system that even celebrities can’t afford,” she said. “What we do is fund meritorious cases and help parties get the justice they deserve.”