Hosking and Frischknecht Publish Third-Party Litigation Funding Update

March 2010 – Chaffetz Lindsey partner James Hosking and associate Andreas Frischknecht have published an article in the latest edition of the International Bar Association’s Arbitration Newsletter discussing two recent decisions of interest to professional litigation funding users.  The authors conclude that the opinion by the New York Court of Appeals in Trust for the Certificate Holders of the Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors, Inc. Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates v. Love Funding Corp., 13 N.Y.3d 190 (2009) “is significant as a pronouncement by New York’s highest court that [New York’s] champerty statute should be construed narrowly and not so as to interfere with the assignment of a right to collect on a legitimate claim.”  The article also discusses a recent opinion by a Florida state appellate court in Abu-Ghazaleh v. Chaul, Nos. 3D07-3128, 3D07-3130, 2009 WL 4283085 (Fla. Ct. App. 3d Dist. Dec. 2, 2009) finding that an investor who had funded an unsuccessful litigation could be held liable for attorneys’ fees and costs.  While both cases involved unique facts, the decisions are notable because there are so few judicial pronouncements that touch on this increasingly important area of dispute resolution practice.

Find the rest of the article in the following excerpt from the March 2010 edition of the International Bar Association’s Arbitration Newsletter, available here.

Chaffetz Lindsey lawyers have significant experience of using alternative sources for funding litigation/arbitration.  For more information, please contact James at james.hosking@chaffetzlindsey.com.