I read the lambasting of the litigation industry with great fear and frustration in Bryce Elder’s article, “Bankrolled Case Brings Litigation Funding To Dock” (Statement May 20).
The pursuit of profit provides the fabric of much of society, both good and bad. While it can misalign interests and produce undesirable results, it is also at the center of many good causes. If litigation finance could exist as a not for profit industry it would, but for the same reason journalism cannot. Litigation funders like media companies need revenue not just to make a profit, but simply to exist.
The reality is that litigation costs money and therefore benefits those who have a lot of it. Eligible beneficiaries are often denied access to justice because they are indeterminate and no one will sponsor them.
This plays into the hands of those who use their money and power to escape justice and, when challenged against it, legally harass and forget the weak. It is financially, psychologically, and emotionally intimidating to compete against “big companies”.
No funder has ever dragged an applicant into a funding contract who kicked and screamed. No funder has ever been greeted with a sigh of relief by an applicant when they turned them down for funding.
And no funder can afford to support angry claims because the courts will financially punish those who do so.
Only those who have the most to lose from justice and who use their money and power to escape justice fear funding litigation. And by criticizing the funding of litigation based on profit before the judiciary, you are actually supporting those who want to do just that with their money and power.
Tets Ishikawa
managing Director
LionFish Litigation Finance (UK)
London EC4, UK
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