Congress’ Litigation Finance Bills Threaten Privacy, Free Speech
Congress’ Litigation Finance Bills Threaten Privacy, Free Speech
Publish Date: 2026-07-07 04:30:00
Source Domain: news.bloomberglaw.com
Third-party litigation finance helps individuals and public-interest organizations fight larger and well-funded opponents and provide critical checks on corporate abuse and political agendas.
Republican members of Congress should realize this and abandon legislation that seeks to regulate this type of financing, which allows investors or donors to fund lawsuits for a contingency share of the recovery or some other interest in the litigation’s outcome.
At first glance, litigation finance legislation from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) appears to be a step toward the tort litigation reform that Americans long have sought. Tillis’ bill could still move forward, though it crashed into a wall last year during the first reconciliation fight. And Hern’s House companion bill is gathering renewed interest this year.
Also, congressional Republicans introduced bills which would create expansive disclosure regimes governing litigation finance. One such bill, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa, faced conservative opposition in a contentious markup hearing earlier this year. That push has carried into the states, with Ohio this month becoming the latest to pass such disclosure mandates.
On closer examination, the measures do little to reform mass tort lawsuits and instead present serious threats to the privacy and First Amendment rights of millions of private citizens who support advocacy causes.
The Tillis/Hern bills would impose a punitive 41% tax on recovery, while Issa’s bill focuses on disclosure of donors and litigation financiers. The bills’ supporters claim that these measures will help curb abusive mass tort litigation and stop foreign adversaries from weaponizing our judicial system against American companies.
However, the overbroad disclosure bills wrongly interfuse conflicts of interest with private generosity. They also would require publication of confidential information even when it’s irrelevant to a lawsuit, leaving innocent…
