In-House Counsel Discusses Value of Litigation Funding

Nancy Saltzman, former Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel to NY-based operations management and analytics firm EXL Group, discussed the value of litigation finance to corporations, and how the instrument is influencing corporate legal spend.

Saltzman sat down with Above the Law to discuss some key issues relating to litigation finance. According to Saltzman, one of the core information gaps between law firms and corporate legal departments is that law firm simply don’t understand the cost pressures that corporations are under. She finds law firms too theoretical, and claims that approach ends up costing corporations time and money. Saltzman laments that while winning is the goal to a law firm, it isn’t everything to a corporation – keeping costs down is of paramount concern.

When asked if legal departments should be viewed as cost or revenue centers, Saltzman argues that corporates should never view their legal departments as revenue centers. That said, when the opportunity to generate presents itself, corporates should proactively seize it – and use all tools at their disposal to do so. “It’s about improving the time to revenue for what you’re producing,” Saltzman says.

Saltzman isn’t the first in-house counsel to balk at the notion of transforming the legal department from a cost center into a profit center. However, the fact that she is willing to proactively seize opportunities to generate revenue speaks volumes about the slow penetration of litigation finance into the corporate legal world.