IP Edge Shifts Strategy After Investigations: Litigation Finance

Happy Friday! Perhaps some of you are reading this from the NYU law review litigation finance symposium. If you’re here, come say hi!

This week, I teamed up with my colleague Michael Shapiro on a story about patent monetization firm IP Edge. For the first time, we interviewed one of its founders, Gautham Bodepudi, about how the company has shifted strategy after a series of investigations initiated by federal judge Colm F. Connolly.

In 2022, Connolly investigated IP Edge’s business model and referred several lawyers connected to the firm to ethics panels. It resulted in a lot of negative attention for the company and IP Edge became the poster child for patent litigation that critics describe as troll-like.

“We have done a lot of cases and we have more litigation cases than I think any other group out there really in history,” said Bodepudi. “There definitely is a narrative of patent trolls or nuisance litigation.”

Bodepudi says that the investigations concluded with no findings of misconduct and the firm is now focused on facilitating high quality cases using insurance and litigation funding to enforce patents against alleged infringers.

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Civil Rules Panel Meets

On Tuesday, the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules discussed the status of its subcommittee studying litigation funding, which was put together in 2024.

Members discussed the pros and cons of adding a rule to the federal courts that would require disclosure of litigation funding, but no decisions were made. The subcommittee is going to continue the process and figure out what a rule might look like, what would trigger it, and what arrangements it would cover, among other issues.

“The issue for us is not third-party litigation finance, good or bad, that’s beyond the scope of what we’re looking at,” Judge R. David Proctor, chair of the subcommittee, said during the meeting. “What we’re almost assuredly looking at if we go forward is a disclosure rule.”

The rules committee tends to move slowly so it will likely be a while before any decision is made.

What I’m Reading

• A bill introduced by Michigan State Rep. Mike Harris that requires funders to disclose agreements advanced in committee this week. Harris said that without oversight, foreign actors could exploit arrangements to influence the legal system.
• Litigation funder Counsel Financial served as underwriter and collateral monitoring agent on a $95 million bank credit facility for a leading plaintiff law firm. The transaction highlights the role of specialized underwriting and bridges the gap between conventional credit frameworks and the complexities of litigation finance.

Business & Practice

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Judicial Panel Trims Amicus Rule Change After Privacy Worries

A federal judiciary rules committee voted to drop a proposed requirement that groups disclose some new members ahead of filing amicus briefs in appeals courts.

Ashurst-Perkins Coie Merger Sails Through Partner Vote, Firms Say

Partners at Perkins Coie and Ashurst voted to combine the two firms, resulting in a $2.8 billion, 3,000-lawyer entity by the third quarter of the year.

In Overloaded Immigration Courts, Detainees Fight Long Odds

Bloomberg Law reporters attended 55 bond hearings in five states in February and March to chronicle proceedings before immigration judges. They offered a window into an uneven system beleaguered by an avalanche of cases and whipsawed by changing legal decisions.

Ex-Trump Official, Obama Picks to Decide Big Law Orders Case

Two judges appointed by former President Barack Obama and another who worked in the first Trump administration will decide whether to overturn lower court rulings blocking White House orders targeting Big Law firms.

Kirkland Rivals Are Creeping Forward

Kirkland & Ellis’ unparalleled growth has intensified competition for talent among Big Law firms and made the industry more dynamic than ever, Roy Strom writes in his latest Big Law Business column.

A group of highly profitable firms have responded by adjusting their compensation systems, changing their partnership structures, and leaning into hiring important partners. “Kirkland’s growth hasn’t been the end of competition. It has been fertilizer for it,” Roy writes.

Latham & Watkins has matched Kirkland’s revenue growth rate over the past two years and opened up a recruiting pathway from Wachtell. Davis Polk added an asset management team from Debevoise and launched new practices like sports and emerging companies. Simpson Thacher has invested in its equity partners and poached one of Kirkland’s top partners.

Also Read: Kirkland Moves to Hire Wachtell Liability Management Partner

Commentary & Opinion

Texas Two-Step Spat Revival Deserves Supreme Court’s Attention

The US Supreme Court should step in to resolve a discrepancy about the need for financial distress to maintain a Chapter 11 case.

Maryland’s Public Nuisance Suits Show Need for Nationwide Fix

For those who recognize the “public nuisance playbook” as the defining crisis for our modern litigation system—as well as our economy and society as a whole—recent decisions by the Maryland Supreme Court shine a spotlight on the bigger problem nationwide.

Promoting Teaching at Public Law Schools Could Ease Justice Gap

Regional public law schools produce public interest lawyers because their graduates often have less student debt, allowing them to pass up corporate legal jobs. The legal profession should aim to raise the cachet of teaching at these schools, which are closing the access-to-justice gap.

In-House Counsel Hopefuls Should Master Behavioral Interviews

The in-house legal hiring market has changed dramatically over the past several years, with many in-house employers, relying heavily on behavioral interviews to evaluate candidates.