Personal misfortune is no longer solely a matter of justice; it is now a tradable commodity. That’s one takeaway from Bloomberg Opinion Columnist Matt Levine’s latest column. 

Levine writes about the rise of third-party litigation financing, a growing sector that allows for vulnerable individuals to access immediate funds by selling their potential legal claims to third-party funders. This is a sector of the personal injury legal system that already has very little in the way of consumer protection. 

As Levine notes:

“If someone does something bad to you, that automatically creates an asset class.” 

Levine highlights a new marketplace that launched last week, touting over $70 million in funding opportunities for potential legal cases. It’s not hard to see where the future is going, Levine notes:

“Imagine what a truly complete and liquid market in litigation claims would look like. Like, as soon as I punched you in the face, you could take a picture of your black eye, upload it to your brokerage app, and sell your claim in minutes.” 

When litigation becomes an asset class, personal pain becomes monetized. This raises significant ethical concerns about fairness, manipulation, and the integrity of our legal system. When personal misfortune is available to the highest bidder, profit often stands in the way of justice, consumers have no protection, and an individual’s suffering is simply reduced to numbers on a screen.