House of Lords speech on review of third-party litigation funding

Peers in the House of Lords recently debated third-party litigation funding as part of the Digital Markets, Consumers and Competition Bill. Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbott gave a insightful speech discussing the need for a government review of the litigation funding industry.

Lord Hodgson rightly identifies five reasons why the Ministry of Justice must conduct a review:

1) Prioritising funders’ access to profits over access to justice
2) Legal principles are paramount, but so are the real practical detail of what is happening in the industry today
3) Funders’ financial interest controlling settlement decisions, not claimants
4) Claimants being unaware of the risks involved in entering opt-out class actions
5) National security concerns due to a lack of transparency in litigation funding.

See an excerpt from the speech below and a link to the speech in full here.