Third-party funding (TPF) has suddenly become the black sheep of the litigation finance industry. In the wake of the spectacularly unsuccessful TPF-backed Excalibur Ventures case – a huge piece of litigation that Lord Justice Christopher Clarke described in December as “speculative and opportunistic” – questions are now being asked about what the problems that are emerging with some of the funding in that litigation mean for the rest of the industry.
This article in yesterday’s Lawyer magazine is a good case in point. But I want to take a broader perspective. In my experience this is not an industry looking to hide in the shade, but its profile has become, in the eyes of some, shady.