What happened: Burford Capital, a well-established third-party litigation funder, is exploring opportunities to further partner with U.S. law firms by investing in firms through Arizona’s alternative business structure (ABS) program and via managed service organizations (MSOs).

Tell me more: While ethical rules in most states prohibit non-lawyers from owning U.S. law firms or receiving a percentage of their fees, MSOs and ABS structures provide workarounds. For instance, under an MSO model, a law firm’s billing, IT and marketing may be split off into a separate MSO entity. The MSO, which is funded by outside investors, provides these services to the law firm for a fee. 

• The outside investors are making money through the provision of the MSO’s services to the law firm without sharing in the firm’s profits, thereby sidestepping rules and regulations regarding non-lawyer ownership of a law firm. 

Why it matters: MSOs, ABS structures and the increasing influence of third-party investors in lawsuits raise serious ethical concerns. California and other states recently halted or rejected ABS programs much like Arizona’s due to concerns that clients’ interests could be compromised. As investor influence continues seeping into litigation, the desire to obtain a sufficient return on investment could supersede the objective of obtaining fair compensation for an injured individual. 

TLR Thoughts: Litigation is becoming more commercialized and detached from the actual needs of injured parties. By tracking these developments, lawmakers and advocates can better target reforms to prevent abuse and keep courts focused on fair outcomes rather than financial windfalls.

Read the full article here.

What happened: President Donald Trump’s new Executive Order on 401(k)s will help ensure that Americans who work for businesses of all sizes have access to a variety of investment options, while at the same time protecting small businesses and retirement savers from frivolous lawsuits. 

Tell me more: Small businesses are currently allowed to offer private market investments to their employees as a part of 401(k) plans, but the threat of lawsuit abuse has deterred employers from offering these investment options. 

• According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, litigation costs in 2021 “totaled $347 billion,” with small businesses bearing about 50 percent of that cost, even though they only account for 20 percent of business revenue.

TLR Thoughts: President Trump’s newly announced Executive Order on 401(k)s recognizes the burden that frivolous lawsuits place on small businesses in particular—ultimately impacting hardworking Americans. Limiting unnecessary litigation strengthens America’s economy and helps more Americans build wealth, showing that legal reform can have immediate, measurable impacts on both business growth and retirement security.

Read the full article here.

What happened: Conservative, tax-cutting states are enacting comprehensive tort reform measures to reduce the threat of frivolous litigation, while blue states such as Illinois are encouraging litigation against businesses.

Tell me more: Georgia’s tort reform package addressed improper jury anchoring as well as “phantom” damage awards derived from inflated medical bills. Oklahoma followed Georgia with a $500,000 noneconomic damage cap for claims arising from bodily injuries, which increases to a $1,000,000 cap if the plaintiff suffered a permanent mental injury. 

• Notably, Florida’s 2023 tort reforms are lowering insurance rates and putting money back in the hands of Floridians. Florida’s top five auto writer insurance groups have lowered rates by an average of 6.5%, and a recent report from the Consumer Protection Coalition indicates a 30% drop in the amount of litigation since Florida passed its tort reforms. 
• Meanwhile, Illinois passed SB 328, requiring companies registered to do business in Illinois to consent to the state’s general jurisdiction. The Illinois Policy Institute explained that this law will subject businesses to liability in Illinois “even if the plaintiffs were not from Illinois and even if the harm did not occur in the state.”

TLR Thoughts: Conservative states are championing tort reform as a policy priority, and their citizens are reaping the benefits. TLR will continue to advocate for meaningful legislation that discourages abusive litigation while protecting the rights of injured Texans.

Read the full article here.

What happened: AI is being explored as a tool to identify and manage high-risk cases that could result in “nuclear” verdicts.

Remind me: In 2024, U.S. courts delivered 49 verdicts exceeding $100 million, nearly double the number from 2023. The median large verdict increased from $44 million in 2023 to $51 million in 2024.

Tell me more: Experts believe AI may be the next best tool to combat the nationwide proliferation of “nuclear” verdicts. Specifically, AI can model trial outcomes, anticipate jury behavior and identify recurring relationships between certain plaintiffs’ lawyers and medical providers. With this information, AI can flag cases most likely to result in enormous judgments and allow defense counsel to formulate a proper litigation strategy. 

TLR Thoughts: AI and predictive analytics offer promising tools to proactively identify and intervene in high-risk claims that could result in outsized judgments. With these developing technologies, in tandem with reasonable tort reform, frivolous lawsuits and runaway awards can be significantly curbed.

Read the full article here.

What happened: New data reveals that Florida’s five largest auto insurers lowered rates by an average of 6.5% this year following recent lawsuit abuse reforms. 

Remind me: In 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed comprehensive legal reforms aimed at curbing lawsuit abuse, reducing frivolous claims and lowering insurance costs for Floridians.

By the numbers: 

• Car insurance rates among the five largest carriers in Florida have decreased by an average of 6.5% this year. 
• These five carriers account for nearly 80% of the Florida market.
• Alabama is in need of similar legal reforms, as a recent study showed that lawsuit abuse cost Alabama households an average of $3,286 in 2022.

TLR Thoughts: Legal reform benefits everyday consumers, as evidenced by Florida’s recent success in lowering insurance costs. Similar reforms have the potential to bring much-needed relief to families and small businesses in states like Alabama and Texas, where lawsuit abuse continues to drive up expenses and create financial burdens.

Read the full article here.

What happened: States in all corners of the country are stepping up to the plate to address the influx of third-party litigation funding that is harming the U.S. legal system by placing investment returns over injured individuals. In 2025 alone, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Montana and Oklahoma all passed laws to regulate third-party litigation funding to increase transparency and keep foreign interests out of American courtrooms.

States taking action: Arizona and Montana passed legislation preventing a “foreign entity of concern” or “foreign person of concern” from financing litigation. Additionally, Colorado passed legislation requiring foreign financiers to provider certain information to the Colorado Attorney General, Oklahoma passed legislation requiring the disclosure of funding agreements upon request, Kansas enacted a law requiring the disclosure of litigation funding agreements within 30 days of a legal action and Georgia enacted a law prohibiting litigation financiers from making litigation strategy decision. 

• New York and California are considering similar measures to regulate third-party litigation funding. 

Why it matters: Third-party litigation financiers expect to see a meaningful return on their investments. Their profit-focused agendas are fanning the flames of an increasingly litigious society that incentivizes frequent, high-dollar lawsuits. States must continue passing reforms such as those mentioned above to give juries the full picture of which interests are involved in a lawsuit and to prevent hidden agendas from infiltrating the courtroom.

TLR Thoughts: Texas needs to follow its sister states in enacting third-party litigation financing regulations, whether it be through legislation or Supreme Court disclosure rules. TLR will continue advocating for increased transparency in lawsuits to ensure that cases are decided on facts, not on the interests of anonymous investors.

Read the full article here.

What happened: Personal injury trial lawyers and George Soros-funded groups are financially backing the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), which is leading efforts to oppose Texas’s proposed redistricting plan.

Tell me more: The NDRC has called Texas’s redistricting proposal a threat to democracy and is rallying national Democratic figures to oppose it. 

• Major donations to the NDRC include $500,000 from Soros’s Democracy PAC and $50,000 from the trial lawyer-funded American Association for Justice (AAJ).

Worth noting: The AAJ has deep ties to Texas personal injury trial lawyers, including leadership within the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Some of those same lawyers are funding new PACs, such as the Arnold and Itkin-led Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC, aiming to influence GOP primaries with multimillion-dollar donations.

TLR Thoughts: This is yet another example of how personal injury trial lawyers are increasingly leveraging their political muscle to shape policy far beyond the courtroom.

Read the full article here.

What happened: Foreign adversaries have discovered a new way to insert themselves into American affairs: the courtroom. The third-party litigation funding industry is booming, with an estimate currently valuing the global litigation funding market at $17.5 billion.

Tell me more: The third-party litigation funding industry operates in the Wild West, and funders ranging from sanctioned individuals to entities tied to adversarial governments are financing U.S. lawsuits to pursue their political or economic objectives. This largely undisclosed interference undermines the U.S. civil justice system by fueling hidden motives rather than the pursuit of fairness and justice. 

Why it matters: This growing industry—expected to hit $67B by 2037—is now a conduit for money laundering, corporate espionage and economic warfare. Without urgent reform and comprehensive disclosure laws, U.S. courts will become playgrounds to advance personal agendas. 

• For example, Chinese technology firm PurpleVine bankrolled at least four intellectual property lawsuits in U.S. courts against Samsung and a related subsidiary.   

TLR Thoughts: Third-party litigation funding is incentivizing excessive lawsuits that place more importance on extracting a sufficient return for investors rather than fairly compensating injured individuals. Personal injury trial lawyers and outside financiers should not be able to quietly steer cases without scrutiny. Safeguarding the justice system requires disclosure laws so that judges and juries know who is really behind the lawsuit.

Read the full article here.

What happened: The U.S. civil justice system is “increasingly failing to fulfill its basic duty of providing an efficient, consistent and even-handed system for resolving civil disputes.” The result: a meteoric increase in the number of frivolous lawsuits and record-breaking jury awards – which ultimately plagues households and businesses with massive legal costs.

In his words: “The plaintiffs’ bar has become a potent political force in many states, and some state politicians and judges seem willing to stack the deck against defendants to satisfy this powerful interest group. The readiness of others to skew the justice system seems to reflect progressive ‘social justice’ ideas that courts should act as redistributionist Robin Hoods in what they see as the primal struggle between a privileged oppressor class and everyone else.” – William P. Barr, U.S. attorney general under Presidents George H.W. Bush (1991–1993) and Donald Trump (2019–2020)

TLR Thoughts: The explosion of excessive and arbitrary damage awards is unsustainable and signals a legal system out of balance. The problem, however, extends beyond the courtroom. Plaintiff attorneys are increasingly exerting influence in the halls of state capitols nationwide, allying themselves with Republican members to stymie lawsuit reform efforts. TLR continues to advocate for smart reforms that protect victims’ day in court while also restoring balance and transparency to our court system.

Read the full article here.

What happened: Uber has filed its third racketeering lawsuit this year against a group of personal injury lawyers and medical providers who allegedly directed Uber passengers to “’pre-selected medical providers’ who submitted inflated bills to treat negligible or non-existent injuries from minor collisions.”

Tell me more: The suit alleges that passengers were funneled to specific doctors who submitted excessive bills for negligible or non-existent injuries, allowing personal injury lawyers to secure fraudulently induced settlements by exploiting California’s state-mandated $1 million rideshare insurance requirement. Uber says one medical bill was 10 times the norm.

• Uber filed its first such case in New York, followed by a similar one in Florida.

Worth noting: The cost of these fraudulent lawsuits is ultimately passed down to customers in the form of higher trip fares.

TLR Thoughts: The improper coordination between certain personal injury lawyers and certain medical providers contributes to skyrocketing insurance premiums and undermines public trust in the civil justice system. The prevalence of these schemes in all corners of the nation highlights the urgent need for meaningful reforms that promote transparency, discourage fraudulent legal practices and ensure the civil justice system serves Texans, not those who exploit it.

Read the full article here.

What happened: The Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), the first major U.S. stock exchange to launch in decades, plans to begin trading in the second half of 2026. 

Why it matters: The TXSE emerges as some U.S. companies have expressed concerns with the regulatory environment and fee structures of existing exchanges. TXSE, by contrast, aims to offer reduced compliance burdens, lower listing and transaction fees and a more flexible regulatory environment, among other benefits.

• With support from Texas’s expanding financial sector and favorable business climate, the exchange also promises to boost regional economic growth and challenge existing market norms.

TLR Thoughts: Texas is the preeminent state for business growth and innovation, and the impending launch of the TXSE further underscores the Lone Star State’s prominence when it comes to economic leadership. Notably, in the recent Texas Legislative Session, TLR and TXSE supported bipartisan legislation (SB 29) increasing the legal certainty and predictability corporations need when determining where to incorporate and grow.

Read the full article here.

What happened: Two prominent, liberal personal injury trial lawyers have funneled $10 million into a new Political Action Committee (PAC) to influence Republican primaries and to undermine tort reform in Texas.

Tell me more: The PAC—Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC—reported spending nearly $1 million in June 2025, largely on Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives who voted in favor of a last-minute amendment gutting Senate Bill (SB) 30, legislation aimed at curtailing abusive litigation practices. SB 30—a Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick priority—received the support of every Republican State Senator during the recent legislative session.   

Worth noting: Records show that Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin of Arnold & Itkin have also funded Soros-linked Democratic PACs, and both voted in the 2024 Democratic primary.

TLR Thoughts: The creation of Arnold and Itkin’s Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC is a clear sign of personal injury trial lawyers’ attempt to weaken Texas’s civil justice system by positioning themselves as kingmakers in Republican primaries. TLR stands resolute in its support of principled leaders who understand the need to shut down abusive litigation and who are committed to keeping our legal system fair and efficient for all. 

Read the full article here.