It’s not quite the rock star niche
Dr. Hook described when he sang about the status achieved from appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone, but litigation funders Selvyn Seidel and Rick Fields did make the cover of American Lawyers’ supplement magazine, Litigation 2010. The related article is titled “London Calling,” a reference to Messrs. Seidel and Fields leading litigation funding businesses which are public companies registered on the UK’s AIM market.
The article, by Richard Lloyd, is preceded by this teaser:
“Two publicly listed funds are investing in early-stage commercial litigation. Is this the start of a revolution, or a sideshow for a few former Am Law 100 lawyers?”
The answer, in my view, is pretty plain. Over time, litigation funding will cause as much of a revolution as can possibly occur in the already massive litigation industry that is tied up in hundreds of years of precedent and balkanized legal systems. In saying that, I’ll admit to some possible bias because my professional life brought me into contact with both gentlemen, and Selvyn Seidel was kind enough to accept an invitation to speak at a litigation seminar I chaired last year in London.
On the merits of the debate about what will happen with litigation funding, start with Mr. Lloyd’s article. For more depth, the relevant past GlobalTort posts are collected under the links to the right for the topics Litigation Funding, and Litigation Funding – Litigation industry. Also take a look at the papers related to the 2009 and 2010 seminars hosted by RAND as it has focused on litigation funding. Finally, make sure to consider also this recent post on the impact litigation funding is having in Australia.