Investing in Someone Else’s Lawsuit

(New York Times) — With litigation costs rising, many plaintiffs and their lawyers do not have the money to hire expensive experts or pay for years of trial preparation. To fill this need,specialized litigation lenders are stepping in to bankroll lawsuits — often providing millions of dollars at very high interest rates because conventional banks typically do not offer such loans.  Lawyers for the ground zero workers, for instance, borrowed $35 million over the years, with the lenders earning about $11 million. (The workers were offered a tentative $712.5 million settlement by the city in June.)

Read More…