Commercial legal finance is increasingly in the headlines these days—and the headlines that matter most, arguably, are those that discuss recent rulings by judges demonstrating support for commercial legal finance and recognizing that the existence of funding and funding agreements are not proper subjects for discovery or discussion at trial.

In recent months, for example, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas and U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright of the Western District of Texas issued orders holding that parties in upcoming trials were precluded from introducing evidence, testimony or argument regarding legal finance.

Judges have authority and discretion to require disclosure of legal finance as they see fit. These recent orders show that judges can and do regulate the cases in their own courthouses. The orders reinforce that further regulation through legislative or other action is unnecessary and would interfere with judges' ability to manage their own cases.