The editorial board at the Chicago Tribune recently published an editorial on the Senate’s changes  to the Trump administration’s tax-and-spending bill. One addition they highlighted was Senator Thom Tillis’ efforts to crack down on third-party litigation financing: 

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has been pushing a plan to claw back revenue from the $15.2 billion litigation finance industry, wherein investors finance lawsuits in order to get a piece of any future award or settlement. This can be a really nice ca-ching for investors, even in downtimes in other markets, but it is deeply problematic for cities like Chicago as it encourages lengthy lawsuits and also drives up the cost of settlements at taxpayer expense since the actual injured party inevitably gets less of the payout. Given the whole parking meter morass, we’ve had more than enough of Chicagoans’ hard-earned money landing in these kinds of hands.

Lawsuit abuse hurts cities like Chicago and Detroit as it takes taxpayer money that could be used for city-improvement projects and instead goes to the investors and lawyers that profit off these cases. 

Furthermore, as the editorial board writes, it “encourages lengthy lawsuits and also drives up the cost of settlements at taxpayer expense since the actual injured party inevitably gets less of the payout”.

This change effectively reduces the incentive for investors and lawyers to start frivolous lawsuits that clog up our court systems and raise the cost of living for consumers, and is a step in the right direction to limit lawsuit abuse.