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Commercial Legal Innovation

Erasmus’ Litigation Investment Innovation Library 

July 7, 2022

Erasmus’ Litigation Investment Innovation Library 

Erasmus Law Review hosts white papers from 10 of Europe’s top legal finance scholars. The library highlights major developments and barriers to litigation financiers.  Litigation Finance Journal’s compilation of the Erasmus legal investment library’s LF-based white papers includes a diverse library of subject matter, including regulatory issues in Australia, European litigation funding, and the role of BTE and ATE insurance.  The Erasmus library provides some dense material, yet these deep-dives can provide industry stakeholders with the opportunity to explore niche segments of the market not typically covered in more mainstream publications.

Commercial

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Commercial

U.S. Tort Costs Reach $580bn, With Third-Party Litigation Funding Named Among the Drivers

The cost of the U.S. tort system has nearly doubled over a decade, rising from $299.7bn in 2014 to $579.7bn in 2023, according to new research that identifies third-party litigation funding among the factors behind the increase.

As reported by Insurance Business Magazine, the figures come from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform's 2026 report, *International Tort Costs: A Comparative Analysis*, produced with the Insurance Information Institute. Tort costs grew at roughly twice the rate of the wider economy over the period and about four times the rate of inflation.

Commercial lines accounted for $377.73bn of the total against $202.01bn for personal lines. Other liability at $249.31bn and personal auto at $188.13bn together represent 75.45% of all tort costs. Self-insured and uninsured exposures made up $163.25bn, or 28.16% of the total.

Alongside third-party litigation funding, the report points to social inflation, nuclear verdicts and expanding theories of liability. Michel Léonard, chief economist at the Insurance Information Institute, framed the trend as a structural strain on the casualty market rather than a cyclical one. The analysis projects that U.S. and UK tort costs as a share of GDP will converge around 2029 to 2030.

The report is the latest from a body that has consistently urged disclosure requirements for litigation funding arrangements, and its figures are likely to feature in the state and federal debates now underway.

Commercial

Harbour Credit Backs £2m Funding Package for Credit Hire Firm’s Management Buyout

Harbour Credit has provided a £2m funding package to Manchester credit hire specialist Garvins Law, financing a management buyout that leaves founder Neil Garvin as the firm's sole shareholder.

As reported by Legal Futures, the package from the lending arm of litigation funder Harbour includes a £1m working capital facility. Garvins Law was founded in 2007 and employs 22 staff, having built its practice around credit hire work following the whiplash reforms. The firm was previously owned by alternative business structure EDAM Group, which entered administration in January 2025; Garvins remained solvent and continued trading throughout.

The firm's accounts for the year to 31 March 2026 show turnover of £2.5m, more than double the prior year, and a profit of £125,000 against a £200,000 loss the year before.

"We have an experienced team, an established position in the credit hire market and ambitious plans to grow the business," said Neil Garvin. Ellora MacPherson is managing director of Harbour Credit.

The transaction illustrates the continuing expansion of litigation funders into law firm lending, where capital is deployed against a practice's receivables and work in progress rather than the outcome of a single case. For claimant firms emerging from the ownership of a collapsed consolidator, that form of credit offers a route to independence without ceding equity to an external investor.

Commercial

High Court Voids £11m Claim Brought on a Cause of Action Assigned to Solicitors’ Company

The High Court has voided an £11m claim after finding that the cause of action had been assigned to a company in which the solicitors acting on the matter held shares, applying a rule against solicitors purchasing their clients' claims that dates back to 1784.

As reported by Legal Futures, the claim arose from an April 2019 deed of loan from Maltby Services to John Rhoden. The cause of action was assigned first to TD Capital in November 2024 and then to MSV Estates in December 2025. Andrew Hickman and Anthony Page, solicitors at Hickman Construction Law in Worcestershire, each held approximately 11% of the relevant company. Master Sullivan, sitting in the King's Bench Division, applied the so-called "solicitor rule" derived from Hall v Hallet (1784) and held the claim void.

Rejecting the argument that minority shareholdings held through a corporate vehicle took the arrangement outside the rule, the Master said: "The solicitor rule would be hollow if it could be so easily circumvented merely by the solicitors acting through a company. That is no less a forceful argument even if they are minority shareholders."

The ruling is relevant to anyone structuring claim acquisitions rather than conventional funding agreements. It signals that the courts will look through corporate vehicles to the identity of the beneficial owners, and that an assignment which places a client's claim in the hands of the solicitors conducting it risks being set aside entirely rather than merely reduced.