In 2016, a Florida jury awarded wrestler Hulk Hogan $140 in damages in his invasion of privacy lawsuit against media conglomerate Gawker, forcing Gawker into bankruptcy. Hogan’s lawsuit was financed by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who harbored a personal grudge against Gawker. This was the first time that many people had ever heard of third-party litigation funding, the practice of investors funding litigation with the goal of earning a profit.  But since Hogan’s lawsuit, the practice of third-party litigation funding has grown dramatically.  In 2023, companies that finance U.S. lawsuits in exchange for a cut of recovery are estimated to have committed between $2.5 billion and $5 billion to new transactions.  Several states have recently adopted new legislation to deal with the rise in such third-party litigation funding, and numerous state bar associations have published ethics opinions on the subject. But much of what lawyers need to know about the subject—and legal ethics more generally–can be learned from an investigation into the Hogan/Gawker litigation. This CLE presentation explores the host of legal ethics issues that are raised by the practice of third-party litigation funding in general and the Hogan/Gawker litigation in particular.

Credit: 1 Dual
Cost: $25, submit payment here