Legal periodicals and public relations pieces are plastered with tales of entrepreneurial legal practices, touting explosive growth fueled by innovative structures, legal technology, and, most hotly, litigation funding. The recurring theme is “disruption” of the practice of law, and the use of litigation funding to grow non-traditional law firms, share risk with clients, and increase business. As third-party financing has slowly begun to take hold, this article discusses three case studies which highlight the perils of “innovative” practice—and law firms being accountable to third-party investors.
Three Case Studies
Pierce Bainbridge. Founded in 2016, Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht has employed an aggressive marketing and advertising strategy to establish itself as “a high stakes litigation force” and the “next generation of litigation excellence.” The firm launched with an unconventional public announcement of a portfolio litigation funding transaction to foster firm growth and a book of contingency fee cases. In the U.S., it is atypical for a law firm to publicly announce that it is connected with a litigation funder: most law firms prefer anonymous funder relationships, so as to convey stability and prudence rather than a risk-taking or venture-based approach. Pierce Bainbridge, however, embraced its funding relationships as a marketing tool, calling itself the “fastest-growing law firm in the history of the world in terms of law firms that have started from absolute scratch,” and gobbling up expensive lawyers who would add to the firm’s roster.
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