Montana committee hears expanded restrictions on litigation financing, including a foreign-adversary ban

Senator Greg Hertz, sponsor of Senate Bill 511, told members of the House Business and Labor Committee the bill builds on 2023 legislation and seeks to address growing third-party litigation financing (TPLF) activity and potential foreign influence in U.S. lawsuits. "This bill builds on what we did last session," Hertz said, summarizing changes to definitions, exemptions for nonprofits and new prohibitions for "foreign adversaries."

Charles Robinson of the Montana Chamber of Commerce described litigation finance as a large and growing global industry and told the committee it can "drive up the cost of litigation, delay settlements, and appear to be providing foreign governments with a new front to attack America." He urged the committee to support SB 511’s ban on foreign-adversary investors and to adopt additional transparency measures; Robinson said the industry is a roughly "$39,000,000,000 global industry."

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