Third-party funding ‘would not encourage ambulance-chasers’

Allowing third parties to cover costs would empower less well-off claimants to take cases, legal experts say

Karyn Harty of McCann FitzGerald: ‘There are ways you can deal with this to make sure it isn’t subject to abuse’. Picture: Fergal Phillips

Introducing third-party funding of litigation would enable Irish companies to better fight fraud without importing a culture of “corporate ambulance-chasing”, lawyers and industry representatives have said.

This type of funding occurs when a third party, with no connection or interest in the litigation, covers the cost of a lawsuit and receives a share of the payout if the case is successful. Third party funding, or champerty, is currently not permitted under Irish law, with the ...