Court Ruling Reinforces Principle of Confidentiality Between Plaintiffs and Funders

Disclosure remains one of the hottest topics in the world of litigation funding, as courts, legislators and pressure groups are all weighing in on the level of transparency that should be required for funding arrangements. However, a recent ruling from the Eastern District of Texas has reinforced the principle that funders and their clients should still be permitted a reasonable degree of confidentiality when it comes to documents shared under non-disclosure agreements.

Analysis by Lake Whillans summarizes a decision from the Hardin v. Samsung Electronics case in Texas, where the court ruled the legal memoranda shared between a plaintiff’s counsel and prospective funders should not be open to discovery. In this patent infringement case, the defendant had sought discovery of a confidential memorandum that counsel had provided to funders prior to filing suit, arguing among other reasons that it was necessary to see the information in these documents relating to “valuations placed on [Plaintiff’s] patents”.

The court did not find merit in Samsung’s arguments, holding that such documents were in fact protected attorney work, having been shared under a confidentiality agreement. This judgement aligned with the 5th circuit’s precedent that this kind of document should be protected from discoverability, given that its “primary motivating purpose” was to “aid in possible future litigation”.

Despite the ongoing battles around disclosure and discoverability in patent infringement cases, funders will no doubt welcome the continued recognition of the principle of confidentiality between plaintiffs, their counsel and funders.