Litigation Finance Group Shrugs Off Forced Disclosure Push (1)

Concerns that foreign entities are exerting influence on US litigation via third-party financing are entirely overblown, according to the head of lawsuit funders’ primary trade group.

“Foreign adversaries aren’t able to manipulate the legal system through legal finance providers,” Gary Barnett, executive director for the International Legal Finance Association, said in an interview.

The estimated $13.5 billion litigation finance industry, in which investors pay up-front costs of lawsuits in return for some of the proceeds if cases are successful, has faced increasing scrutiny in the past year.

A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress would require the disclosure of foreign entities ...