Written from primary sources, case law, regulatory filings, academic scholarship, and funder disclosures, with citations. Click any article to read.
Foundational Scholarship → An annotated guide to the academic literature that built this field, what each major work argues and why it matters in practice.
Primary Sources → The government reports, congressional testimony, court rule proposals, and bar association opinions that set the actual rules, each summarized in plain language with a free link.
Non-recourse capital, priced against the value of a legal claim rather than a balance sheet.
FundamentalsMerit, counsel quality, collectability, duration, and claim size, the five things funders screen for.
FundamentalsA judgment against an insolvent defendant is a piece of paper. Collection is the actual business.
FundamentalsThe unglamorous, most useful article in this library.
Damages & ValuationWhy quantification, not liability, is where most matters are actually won or lost in underwriting.
Damages & ValuationUnderwriting logic borrowed from private equity, applied to legal claims.
StructuresHow funders diversify risk across multiple matters, and why it lowers the cost of capital.
StructuresFinancing the firm, not just the case.
StructuresA narrower, faster, and often overlooked category of capital.
StructuresCapital advanced against a win you already have, to actually collect on it.
Industry VerticalsFinanced more like venture bets than commercial disputes.
Industry VerticalsCross-border enforcement, seat selection, and disclosure obligations under ICSID Rule 14.
Industry VerticalsThe fastest-growing and most controversial corner of the industry.
Industry VerticalsAn unusually attractive sector for third-party funders.
Industry VerticalsA smaller, newer category: funding the company being sued, not the one suing.
Regulation & EthicsNo uniform federal rule, a fast-moving mix of state laws and a pending federal bill.
Regulation & EthicsRule 5.4(c), Rule 1.2, and the limits on what a funder is allowed to control.
Regulation & EthicsThe case that gave litigation finance its first real courtroom legitimacy in the U.S.
Regulation & EthicsHow one 2023 Supreme Court ruling upended the UK funding market, and how regulators are trying to fix it.
Regulation & EthicsFrom managed investment scheme to exemption and back again.
TaxOrigin-of-claim doctrine, capital gain versus ordinary income, and an unsettled IRS position.
HistoryHow a 2009 law review article became the largest company in the industry.
History30%-range target IRRs, a 20-40% loss rate, and why single-case returns overstate reality.
Recent DevelopmentsA June 2025 handoff that signals consolidation is already underway in this market.
StructuresAlmost always no, and that distinction is what makes the whole asset class work.
StructuresScope, staged tranches, return caps, and who really controls settlement.
StructuresCapital adequacy, track record, and why many claimants use a broker.
Industry VerticalsHow trustees pursue claims they otherwise couldn't afford to bring.
StructuresTwo different products, often bought together, frequently confused.
Industry VerticalsA funded, controversial corner of False Claims Act litigation.
Regulation & EthicsEight states now regulate litigation funding directly, and a named federal bill is gaining real momentum.
History39 active U.S. funders, new case commitments up 23% to $2.8 billion, and Big Law's share is shrinking.
Industry VerticalsHow funders help minority shareholders pursue recoveries after a corporate collapse.
StructuresSelling a stake in a win you already have but can't yet cash in on, while an appeal plays out.
Regulation & EthicsA foundational academic question underneath every funding agreement: who really owns a legal claim once outside capital is attached to it?
Regulation & EthicsA direct academic counterpoint to the disclosure fight: scholarship arguing funders can reduce, not create, conflicts of interest in class and mass tort litigation.
Regulation & EthicsA proposed 40% funder fee cap and mandatory disclosure, the EU's still-unresolved attempt to write continent-wide rules for litigation finance.
Regulation & EthicsTwo jurisdictions that legalized third-party funding by statute in 2017 and became the region's leading arbitration funding hubs.
FundamentalsThe academic reframe that explains why funding agreements look the way they do, priced like a startup raising a round, not underwritten like a loan.
StructuresNobody can price a lawsuit accurately at the outset. That is why funders release capital in tranches, and why the pricing logic changes with each one.
StructuresFunding contracts are not standardized, and most claimants see their first one with no benchmark for what is normal. Here is the benchmark, provision by provision.
Regulation & EthicsOnce money is attached to a claim, the claimant is no longer the only party with an interest in how it is litigated. The scholarship names this problem and its worst-case failure mode.
Regulation & EthicsWhether your funding agreement is discoverable is a live question in most jurisdictions. The academic framework courts and legislatures are actually arguing over.
Regulation & EthicsSharing case materials with a funder can look like a privilege waiver on paper, here's why courts usually say it isn't.
HistoryBeyond the qualitative arguments, what empirical research has actually found about litigation funding's effect on cases and courts.
StructuresA different kind of capital access entirely, letting non-lawyers own a stake in the firm itself, not just a single matter.
FundamentalsThe claims too large to self-fund and too small for most institutional funders, and the smaller set of firms built to serve them anyway.
FundamentalsLitigation finance isn't one market but several, segmented sharply by claim size and practice area, knowing the map before you approach anyone saves months.
Regulation & EthicsThe Supreme Court itself asked how many of its own cases are funded, and couldn't get a precise answer.
Regulation & EthicsA 2025 law review proposal grounds disclosure not in new legislation, but in rules already on the books.
Recent DevelopmentsThe industry's own case against litigation funding, and why it's more contested than the numbers alone suggest.