The Litigation Funding and Transparency Act – Round 2

The Litigation Funding and Transparency Act has been reintroduced by Republican Senators Grassley (Iowa); Thom Tillis (N.C), JohnCronyn (Texas), and Ben Sasse (Nebraska).  This legislation would require parties in class action lawsuits to disclose third-party funding arrangements, positing that this transparency will head off potential conflicts of interest and bring accountability to the industry. A prior version of this bill was introduced in 2017, but failed to gain any traction.  The legislation is supported by in-house counsel for 30 major U.S. companies, including General Electric, AT&T, Chevron, Google, Johnson & Johnson, and others.  Some litigation companies, including Burford and Vannin Capital support limited disclosures, but find that the proposed legislation is overreaching and would permit defendants in legitimate lawsuits to gain an improper advantage.