Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, states around the world have experienced sustained growth in the emerging industry of litigation finance in light of the perceived insularity of courtrooms from the instabilities and fluctuations of contemporary financial capitalism. This nascent industry has been dominated by class actions given their potential for windfall settlements and litigation strategy control by legal actors. Such litigation investments are simultaneously portrayed to justice stakeholders as promoting access to justice, a fundamental human right. This paper traces the historical and contemporary development of this legal dynamic of financialisation by uncovering the progressive liberalisation of maintenance and champerty laws from the nineteenth century to the current conjuncture through a series of case studies, before exploring the problematic legal economics of the emerging industry, employing Canada as a national case study. In so doing, this paper raises concerns about the extent to which financial capital marketises civil justice and commodifies litigation under the auspices of promoting multilayer access to justice.