Susan Dunn, a founder at Harbour Litigation Funding, recently gave a wide-ranging interview discussing pertinent issues regarding Litigation Finance, including global trends, the debate over value, defendant-side funding, and more.
An LFJ Conversation with Michael Kelley, Partner, Parker Poe
Susan Dunn, a founder at Harbour Litigation Funding, recently gave a wide-ranging interview discussing pertinent issues regarding Litigation Finance, including global trends, the debate over value, defendant-side funding, and more.
HFW Litigation had an array of relevant questions for Dunn. The topic of cross-jurisdictional litigation came up early, as Harbour alone funds in 17 jurisdictions and growing. Dunn is even in talks with a nation state looking to utilize funding to recoup capital that has left the country. Brazil, for example, is considered to be an up-and-coming growth area for legal funding.
Portfolio funding is still growing in usage and remains one of the more flexible, adaptable funding models. Dunn explains that while legal funding is discussed as a way to get legal matters off company balance sheets, that isn’t what she sees in her work. Dunn also expressed that the discussion of value needs to be more common and possibly more forceful. Ultimately, legal funding has to make money for investors.
Dunn explained why Harbour doesn’t fund much arbitration, saying that results are often “mixed.” She states that Harbour has done better in courts than in arbitration. And of course, appeals aren’t an option in arbitration cases.
Insolvency is on everyone’s mind since COVID, but Dunn states that these cases will take longer than expected. When contracts are canceled, for example, it’s because of an inability to pay. Such defendants aren’t good choices for funders—since there’s little chance of recovering an award even with a winning case. A ‘good case’ is only good when defendants have assets.
In the coming years, Dunn suggests that law firms will need to improve their tech for better data management and analysis.
