The team at Greenpoint Capital Management is sensitive to the fact many of those reading this have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. We are living in times of unprecedented uncertainty. In the face of these generational events, no doubt many of us are reflecting on questions and assumptions that extend far beyond capital markets…
Read More“Litigation Finance” is a broad term for various types of investments that fund participants in the civil justice system. While these investments can theoretically take the form of any security, they are typically fairly vanilla in nature, most often taking the form of a credit or credit-like structure. The investment thesis supporting modern litigation funders represents a paradigm shift that recognizes legal claims as assets with value that can support capital investment. Given annual revenue in the legal services industry exceeds $430 billion, there has never been a better time to explore the space either as an investor or consumer of capital
Read MoreReasonable access to have a legal claim or defense heard in court is guaranteed by the United States Constitution. However, given the high costs of litigation - including attorney fees, court fees, and depositions - many still contend that the U.S. judicial system is rigged to favor the wealthy. The need for capital to fund litigation may cause undercapitalized plaintiffs to defer or ultimately abandon legal recourse. Within this environment, it may be posited that access to capital, rather than access to the courts, distorts legal outcomes.
Read MoreAt its most basic level, litigation finance is the practice whereby a third-party, previously unrelated to the antecedent event of a lawsuit provides money to one of its parties in return for a financial reward derived from a potential positive outcome. The capital provided by Litfin investors may help individual plaintiffs pay for living expenses or directly pay for some of the costs of litigation, including attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, court costs and other expenses associated with a lawsuit. Alternatively, it can be invested in law firms to finance operations that support a broad portfolio of lawsuits. The financial reward for investors can take different forms including a flat fee, a multiple on the amount advanced, a percentage of the amount recovered or an interest rate when it is a loan to a law firm (among other more creative structures).
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