What many people may not realize is that sometimes litigation can be financed by an outside 3rd party. The industry of litigation financing helps support cases being brought that might never have been pursued because of a lack of money to finance a case or cases should this facility not exist. Normally the 3rd party financier gets a piece of the case should the plaintiff prevail. The premium financier evaluates the merits of the case and the possibility of success prior to agreeing to fund the litigation. This can be an real leveler of the field against a well-funded foe.
But what if the person bankrolling the litigation has a beef with the foe and it has little to nothing to really to do with the merits of case at hand. This may be what happened when Peter Theil financed Hulk Hogan’s suit against Gawker Magazine. Ultimately driving Gawker into bankruptcy after Hulk Hogan prevailed. Peter Theil is the cofounder of Pay Pal and an early investor in Facebook. Gawker Magazine published a story on Peter Theil stating that he is “Totally Gay” which according to Mr. Theil left a real mark on him. To read more about this alternative use of “Litigation Financing”
click here.
This gives a new use to litigation financing while paying no attention to the man behind the curtain or don’t get mad get even.