Booming Litigation Funders Dealt Blow by UK Top Court Ruling (1)

The UK’s litigation funders were dealt a blow after the country’s top court ruled they weren’t allowed to strike deals in antitrust class action cases in return for a cut of the damages won.

The Supreme Court said Wednesday that the financiers should be covered by the rules for antitrust cases that prevent lawyers from making damage-based payment deals. The words “claim management services” in the rules include litigation funders, the judges said in a majority ruling.

Hedge funds, private equity and sovereign wealth funds are piling billions into the outcome of high stakes court cases in the UK ...