Law.com - External Funding Booms as Litigators Plot Upturn

Law.com - External Funding Booms as Litigators Plot Upturn
While not exactly globalization of legal services, as the main action is taking place in London with some US law firms joining in, it looks as if it will qualify.

Traditional barriers are coming down very quickly in the legal profession. While some people might taut this as positive change, sometimes, when you depart from the old rules, particularly when you really do not consider the reasons for the old rules, there can be some very unhappy developments.

When a third party funds a litigation for a slice of the action, who controls the litigation? The client or the lender? To whom does the attorney owe his duty? Is it the client or the lender? Would the attorney disregard the wishes of the client because those wishes prejudice the one who is actually paying the bills?

This is a very interesting development, and it deserves further watching and study.