No. HB 1157
Filed under Legal.
Litigation Financing; Requires courts to consider potential conflicts of interest that may arise from existence of litigation financing agreement in specified circumstances; prohibits specified acts by litigation financiers; requires certain parties that enter into specified litigation financing agreements to serve specified notice; provides requirements for such notices; provides that certain information is not required to be included in such notices; authorizes courts to take specified actions relating to such notices; prohibits foreign funders from taking specified actions; provides construction; provides that litigation financing agreement is void & unenforceable in specified circumstances; provides for enforcement of specified violations under Florida Deceptive & Unfair Trade Practices Act; authorizes court, agency, or tribunal of competent jurisdiction to impose fines or other sanctions for certain violations.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDA new law regulates third-party litigation funding statewide. Financiers who front money to a plaintiff or law firm for a cut of the outcome cannot direct case strategy, take more than plaintiffs collectively keep, or pay referral kickbacks.
When a foreign person, government, or sovereign wealth fund supplies 5% or more of a funding deal, that relationship must be disclosed to the court, all parties, and two state agencies within days of signing or filing.
Dollar amounts and trade secrets in the funding deal stay out of the public notice. Foreign funders also cannot route money through shell entities to dodge the disclosure duty.
Breaking the conduct rules is an unfair trade practice; breaking the disclosure rule draws court sanctions. An agreement that violates the new part is void outright.
AIA litigation financier cannot make or influence decisions about how a case proceeds, including choice of counsel, expert witnesses, strategy, or whether and how to settle. Those decisions stay solely with the party and their attorney of record.
AIA financier cannot contract for or receive a bigger share of a case's proceeds than the share the plaintiffs themselves collectively recover after attorney fees and costs are paid, so the financier can never out-earn the people it financed.
AIWhen a foreign person, government, or sovereign wealth fund provides financing, the party or their counsel must file and serve notice within 14 days of signing the funding deal or 7 days of filing the case, whichever comes first.
AIA foreign funder or anyone acting for it cannot route money through a domestic entity or affiliate to conceal or evade the disclosure requirement, and cannot share proprietary, privileged, or national-security information from the case with outside foreign parties.
AIAn agreement that violates the new part is void and unenforceable outright. Violating the conduct rules is a deceptive and unfair trade practice under Florida's consumer protection law, and courts, agencies, or tribunals can fine violators of the disclosure rule.
AIThe disclosure must identify anyone who owns or controls 3% or more of the litigation financier, but the dollar amounts, financing terms, and other proprietary details of the deal are not required to be included and can be filed under seal.
AIA financier cannot pay a commission, referral fee, or other consideration to any person, explicitly including an attorney, a law firm, or a health care practitioner, for steering a client to the financier.
AIA court deciding whether a class representative, class counsel, or lead counsel in a consolidated case can fairly represent everyone's interests may take the existence of a litigation financing agreement into account.