>... The broader question is whether the law should permit any third-party funding of litigation where the funder has otherwise has no connection with the merit

>... The broader question is whether the law should permit any third-party funding of litigation where the funder has otherwise has no connection with the merits of the dispute. Are you seriously trying to argue that contingency fee arrangements, or lawsuits funded by groups such as EFF, ACLU, SPLC, ACLU etc etc etc are somehow litigation abuse? The real underlying issue is that it shouldn't take millions of dollars to litigate a claim against a big corp like Gawker. Why in general should legal fees be so large that someone with any kind of injury has to give 40% of the settlement to a lawyer? This is the public policy issue that is important.