Uber has quietly rewritten its rider and driver agreements to require anyone who sues the company to disclose whether their case is backed by third-party litigation funding — a novel contractual maneuver that could reshape how funded claims against large corporations proceed.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, the updated terms compel plaintiffs to identify any litigation funder supporting their lawsuit and to hand Uber copies of the underlying funding agreements. The requirements extend to appointed arbitrators, and signatories effectively waive attorney-client privilege and confidentiality protections for documents shared with their funders.

Uber frames the change as part of a broader corporate campaign against litigation finance. The company, alongside more than 50 others, has lobbied Congress and state legislatures to restrict or ban the practice, arguing that outside capital fuels abusive litigation. Uber also helps fund tort-reform advocacy groups that oppose third-party funding.

Legal experts warned the language could deter funders from backing cases against the company at all. Georgetown law professor Maria Glover said "no rational funder is going to inject themselves into a case where they have to disclose basically their due diligence," calling the provisions "pretty egregious" given that many underlying claims involve wage theft and sexual assault allegations. Shannon Liss-Riordan, an attorney who represents Uber drivers, described the move as "an attempt to slow down claims being filed and actually adjudicated."

The shift arrives as Uber faces thousands of passenger sexual-assault claims, including a recent federal bellwether loss carrying an $8.5 million verdict.

A new market analysis argues that the most consequential shift in legal funding has little to do with litigation itself and everything to do with capital efficiency. Corporations that once treated major disputes as an unavoidable drain on working capital are increasingly evaluating claims the way they assess any other asset.

According to a report highlighted by openPR, published by HTF Market Insights, legal departments now weigh disputes by expected return, duration risk, probability-adjusted value, and portfolio diversification. Rather than asking whether litigation should be financed, the report contends, sophisticated organizations are asking which disputes deserve capital and which should be transferred to specialized funding partners.

The analysis attributes the trend to greater institutional participation, more rigorous underwriting, and growing executive acceptance that legal claims carry measurable economic value. As procedural complexity and extended case timelines persist, it characterizes third-party capital as evolving from an alternative financing option into a strategic balance-sheet instrument, producing structural rather than cyclical growth.

The report segments the market by type — commercial, personal injury, intellectual property, class action, and international — and by application across law firms, corporates, and small and mid-sized enterprises. Among the players it identifies are Burford Capital, Omni Bridgeway, Harbour Litigation Funding, Augusta Ventures, Longford Capital, Woodsford, Parabellum Capital, and Validity Finance. Single-case funding, it notes, remains the most recognizable segment, resembling private equity underwriting more than traditional lending.

High Rise Financial, a national consumer legal funding company, has extended its pre-settlement funding operations into Nevada, offering non-recourse advances to plaintiffs across Las Vegas, Henderson, Reno, North Las Vegas, and Sparks. The move continues a state-by-state expansion that recently reached Illinois.

According to a press release published via Newswire, the company provides cash advances to individuals awaiting settlement in personal injury, motor vehicle accident, slip-and-fall, premises liability, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability, and mass tort matters. Because the funding is structured as non-recourse, plaintiffs repay only if their case results in a recovery.

"Nevada represents an important growth opportunity and an important opportunity to serve plaintiffs who may be struggling financially while their cases move through the legal system," said co-founder Mark Berookim. The advances are designed to help claimants cover medical expenses, lost wages, and household bills during litigation delays, easing the financial pressure that can push injured parties toward premature settlements.

High Rise Financial works with attorneys nationwide and emphasizes transparent terms, streamlined reviews, and direct collaboration with counsel. Consumer legal funding of this kind continues to draw regulatory attention across several states, with lawmakers weighing disclosure and rate-cap requirements even as demand from plaintiffs grows. The Nevada launch adds another jurisdiction to a consumer-facing segment of the litigation finance market that operates alongside, but distinct from, the commercial funding used by corporations and law firms.

LITFINCON, the global litigation finance conference series produced by Siltstone Capital, is bringing its platform to Europe for the first time, signaling how central the region has become to the asset class. The inaugural European edition will convene at Rosewood Amsterdam on October 7–8, 2026.

According to a press release distributed via PR Newswire, the two-day event will run under the theme "The Claim Is the Asset: IP, Arbitration, Class Actions & the Investors Who Know It," with eleven panels spanning UK, EU, and US regulatory frameworks, European transaction structures, collective redress, international arbitration, portfolio and law firm financing, insurance and risk transfer, patent litigation funding, and the growing role of artificial intelligence.

The expansion reflects Europe's emergence as one of the most active litigation finance markets, propelled by cross-border collective actions, the Netherlands' WAMCA regime, and the rise of the Unified Patent Court. "Europe is where some of the most important questions in litigation finance are being worked out right now," said Jim Batson, Chief Investment Officer of Legal Finance at Siltstone Capital.

Co-founder Robert Le noted the asset class is drawing institutional capital from banks, pension funds, insurers, and family offices. Prior LITFINCON editions in Houston, Beverly Hills, and Singapore have collectively drawn more than 1,000 attendees, though organizers say the Amsterdam gathering will remain intentionally curated. LITFINCON Houston follows on February 24–25, 2027, at The Post Oak Hotel.

Esquire Financial Holdings continues to build its bank around the legal industry, with commercial litigation-related lending now the clear centerpiece of its loan book rather than a sideline. The firm's strategy leans into a niche most banks avoid: financing law firms and litigation-related credit at scale.

According to Esquire Financial Holdings, the company's commercial litigation-related loans increased $386.9 million, or 46.3%, to $1.22 billion as of March 31, 2026. That single segment now accounts for roughly two-thirds of Esquire's $1.82 billion total loan portfolio.

The litigation book grew a net $44 million during the quarter — about 15% on an annualized basis — at a yield of approximately 9%, well above conventional commercial lending. Total assets rose 23.9% to $2.42 billion, and the bank's net interest margin reached 6.04%, reflecting how the litigation-related concentration lifts overall returns.

The figures underscore a deliberate design rather than opportunistic growth: a specialized commercial bank concentrating on law-firm and litigation-related credit, funded in large part by legal-industry deposits. Net income for the quarter was $12.2 million, or $1.40 per diluted share. As litigation finance draws regulatory scrutiny elsewhere, Esquire's model shows how a chartered bank is embedding itself in the sector's plumbing.

Ohio is moving to join the growing roster of states regulating third-party litigation funding, advancing a bill that pairs registration and disclosure requirements with an outright prohibition on foreign funders.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, House Bill 105 — passed by the Senate and sent to Governor Mike DeWine — would require both commercial and consumer funders to register with the state and disclose their funding agreements to the attorney general after cases resolve. Sponsors have described the sector as an "opaque," billion-dollar industry operating largely out of view.

The measure would bar funders from influencing how lawsuits are handled or settled, and would prohibit funding agreements with individuals or entities domiciled outside the United States. It draws on the National Conference of Insurance Legislators' "Transparency in Third Party Litigation Financing Model Act," creating a uniform registration and oversight framework under the attorney general.

Unlike North Carolina's first-in-the-nation outright ban enacted last month, Ohio's approach centers on transparency and foreign-influence guardrails rather than blanket prohibition — a model other states weighing regulation are likely to study closely. For the defense bar, mandatory disclosure of funding agreements would offer a clearer view of the financial interests behind a claim, potentially informing settlement posture and trial strategy.

A new commentary argues that pending federal legislation to regulate third-party litigation funding could do more constitutional harm than substantive reform, raising First Amendment and privacy concerns for funded parties and their backers.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, legal scholar John Shu points to two efforts on Capitol Hill: a bill from Senator Thom Tillis and Representative Kevin Hern that would impose a 41% tax on litigation finance recoveries, and a separate disclosure bill from Representative Darrell Issa that would require funders and financiers to be publicly identified.

Shu contends that mandatory disclosure would expose confidential backers to "doxxing, harassment, retaliation, or worse," and that the tax-enforcement mechanism would force plaintiffs' lawyers to identify private funders to the IRS. He points to the agency's history of controversy over the "targeting of the Tea Party and other conservative groups" as reason for caution about compelled disclosure to federal authorities.

He grounds the constitutional argument in Supreme Court precedent — including NAACP v. Alabama (1958) and Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021) — decisions that shielded confidential donor and membership lists from compelled disclosure. The piece lands as a notable counterweight to the transparency push gaining momentum in statehouses and Congress, reframing the debate around civil liberties rather than courtroom economics.

A new study from Burford Capital and The Lawyer finds that cost and risk are keeping meritorious claims off the docket. In the London Disputes Report 2026, 67% of senior legal professionals surveyed agreed that many strong claims go unpursued because of the cost or risk of litigation.

According to Burford Capital, 85% of respondents agreed that risk-transfer tools such as legal finance improve litigation decision-making, and 84% believe businesses now expect greater cost certainty than law firms can readily provide. Another 73% said corporate boards are becoming more sophisticated in viewing disputes as financial assets.

The report also highlights behavioral drivers behind case outcomes. Some 60% of those surveyed agreed that settlement decisions are often driven by management fatigue rather than the underlying strength of a case, while 73% of in-house and private-practice lawyers reported direct experience with legal finance.

"Boards, executives and legal teams are increasingly evaluating litigation and arbitration as business assets," said Philipp Leibfried, Managing Director at Burford Capital. For an industry that has spent years arguing that legal finance is a mainstream corporate tool rather than a last resort, the findings offer data to match the pitch — suggesting that cost pressure, board sophistication, and risk transfer are converging to pull disputes squarely into the realm of financial decision-making.

North Carolina has become the first US state to prohibit third-party litigation funding outright, with its Prohibit Litigation Investments Act taking effect on June 22, 2026. The law makes it unlawful for any person to provide money — whether as a direct payment, advancement, loan, or investment — for civil proceeding expenses in exchange for a right to repayment that is contingent in any respect on the outcome of the proceeding.

As reported by JD Supra, the statute applies broadly across civil actions, arbitrations, mediations, and administrative proceedings, and covers contracts entered into, renewed, or amended on or after the effective date. It carves out exclusions for contingency-fee legal services, non-contingent loans, attorney cost advancements under the Rules of Professional Conduct, and funding arrangements that carry no outcome-contingent return.

The penalties are significant. Offending contracts become void, the Attorney General may seek injunctions and civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation, and injured parties may recover damages — including treble statutory damages — plus court costs and attorney fees. Insurers and risk managers have praised the measure as a landmark curb on litigation abuse.

The law's sweeping language has also raised concerns beyond the funding sector. Practitioners warn that it creates uncertainty around routine corporate advancement and indemnification of directors, officers, and LLC members, potentially conflicting with longstanding protections under the state's Business Corporation Act.