Judge’s Rare Rebuke of Lawyers Shakes Up Patent-Funding Probe

Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly took an unusual step at a recent hearing in his long-running litigation finance investigation, telling a paralegal who owes his Delaware court a $53,000 contempt fine that her lawyers aren’t really working for her.

Lori LaPray, a recently widowed 37-year-old mother from Texas, owns Backertop Licensing LLC, one of many Texas entities Connolly has called “shell companies” that he says are used by patent-monetization firm IP Edge LLC to conceal the true beneficiaries of its litigation. The $200-a-day fine began accruing when LaPray first flouted Connolly’s July 2023 order to appear in his court and ...