Kirby Griffis, partner with Hollingsworth LLP in Washington, DC, recently addressed Atlantic Legal’s Board and Advisory Council on the topic of third-party funding of litigation, in remarks entitled "Follow the Money: Litigation Funders Back Your Foes". Corporate defendants used to worry about how all of the money the plaintiffs’ bar won in the tobacco litigation would be used against them. Now, the opposition, as Mr. Griffis describes, has a new source of funding: Wall Street. Hedge funds, subsidiaries of banks, and wealth-planning firms for very high-net-worth individuals, among others, are loaning millions of dollars to the same kinds of plaintiffs’ firms that corporate defendants face every day.
Mr. Griffis’ remarks are set forth in the July 2011 issue of The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. To view his remarks, please click here.
