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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Beisner</p>                                <p class=\"imgtitle\">Molot</p>           WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A panel of four debated just exactly who can benefit from third-party litigation financing Wednesday at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform Summit.<br /><br />Three professors and an attorney explored how the practice can increase the amount of lawsuits filed yet also help defendant corporations. Third-party litigation funding is basically an investment for the third party, which agrees to provide the costs for a litigant to file or defend a lawsuit.<br /><br />Jonathan Molot, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said struggling companies facing lawsuits could use it effectively -- saying it would \"offload the risk\" of fighting against a lawsuit to a jury verdict instead of settling to protect the welfare of the business.<br /><br />Having the means to fight a lawsuit, he says, would also provide a bargaining chip that could drive a settlement down. The lender then would receive some portion of the money the company saved.<br /><br />John Beisner, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, argued third-party financing has \"the potential for a perfect storm.\"<br /><br />\"There's a real risk of lawsuit abuse,\" he said. \"The main point I want to raise is the rather obvious point -- if  you pour a lot more money into the type of funding that is available to finance litigation, you're going to get more litigation.<br /><br />\"If you jam up the legal system with more claims, you're going to limit the access of justice for individuals who have valid claims. Third-party financing litigation will encourage bringing weaker claims.\"<br /><br />Hedge funds interested in financing litigation, Beisner argued, are more interested in high-risk situations than attorneys who take cases based on the time they must dedicate and the likelihood of success.<br /><br />Lenders target cases with only a small chance of success, but the opportunity to result in a high verdict or settlement.<br /><br />Class action cases may get troublesome, too, he said.<br /><br />\"If you have (class action) litigation that has a third-party funder involved, who is really controlling the litigation?\" Beisner said. \"At the end of the day, the decision for a settlement or to go on with the case will be ccontrolled by the investors' interest.\"<br /><br />While Stephen Presser, a professor at Northwestern University Law School, said large financiers won't want to bring tort suits because a lack of certainty of jury trials, Paul Rubin, a professor at Emory University, wondered if the third-party financing was good for society.<br /><br />While it would deter unlawful behavior with low-income individuals without the means to fight back, it would also create a new group with the intention of changing the law for its benefit.<br /><br /><em>From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at jobrienwv@gmail.com. Legal Newsline is owned by the ILR.</em>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://legalnewsline.com/stories/510521728-plaintiffs-defendants-could-both-use-third-party-financing-panel-says>