Bradley Partner Tripp Haston Quoted in The American Lawyer on Third-Party Litigation Funding Deal

Bradley attorney Tripp Haston was quoted in The American Lawyer on a third-party funding deal revealed in a recent class action against Chevron. The rise of the litigation finance industry in the U.S. has led some defense lawyers to expect by default that a funder is behind the scenes–especially in class actions and mass tort cases with huge sums at stake.

“I think if you’re in one of those types of cases, it’s become sort of state-of-the-art and incumbent upon you to explore the possibility of funding,” explained Haston.

The fact that a funder is involved may ultimately have no bearing on his strategy in the case, Haston said, but it might become an important issue if the contract shows the funder has some level of control or raises questions about the ability of the other lawyers to carry on with the litigation. “A big part of this, I think, for parties who are facing a funded set of litigation is just raising awareness–the court’s awareness–that there is another material party in the case that is not disclosed,” Haston said.

The complete article, “How Jones Day Unmasked a Litigation Funding Deal and Won,” appeared in The American Lawyer on October 29, 2017. (login required)