[podcast]http://redesign.rstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/fire011912.mp3[/podcast]

Third-party litigation funding, already a regular practice in countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, has seen growing interest in the United States in recent years. Buoyed by interest from institutional investors in search of new revenue streams, legal scholars have noted the practice is growing beyond its initial foothold in personal injury cases and increasingly into such areas as complex corporate torts, intellectual property and employment law, despite rules that ostensibly bar the sharing of law firm proceeds with non-lawyers.

As it grows, the practice naturally has attracted the attention of the insurers, who often find themselves on the other side of such suits. In this week’s edition of the FIRE Podcast, we talk to Robert Detlefsen, vice president of public policy with the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, about a recent NAMIC paper that looks at the practice and efforts some states are taking to regulate the industry.

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