Legal Definitions - campipartia

Campipartia, also commonly known as champerty, refers to a specific type of agreement where a third party, who is not directly involved in a legal dispute, agrees to finance the litigation costs for one of the parties. In return, this third party receives a share of any money or property recovered if the lawsuit is successful.

This practice is generally considered illegal or unethical in many jurisdictions because it can encourage unnecessary lawsuits, create conflicts of interest, and potentially allow outside parties to exert undue influence over legal proceedings.

Here are some examples to illustrate campipartia:

• Example 1: Personal Injury Lawsuit Funding

  A person suffers a severe injury in a workplace accident and decides to sue their employer for negligence. Lacking the funds to cover extensive legal fees, court costs, and expert witness expenses, they are approached by a specialized litigation finance company. This company offers to pay for all the lawsuit's expenses. In exchange, they stipulate that they will receive 30% of any settlement or jury award the injured person receives if the case is successful.

  This illustrates campipartia because the litigation finance company is a third party not directly involved in the accident or the employment relationship. They are funding the lawsuit in exchange for a predetermined share of the potential winnings.

• Example 2: Business Patent Dispute

  A small technology startup discovers that a much larger competitor has infringed upon one of its key patents. The startup has a strong case but lacks the substantial financial resources required to pursue a lengthy and complex patent infringement lawsuit against a well-funded adversary. An independent investor, seeing the potential for a large payout, offers to cover all the startup's legal fees, expert analysis costs, and court expenses. The investor's condition is that they will receive 40% of any damages awarded if the startup wins the lawsuit.

  This demonstrates campipartia because the independent investor is a third party with no direct stake in the patent or the competing businesses. Their involvement is solely to finance the litigation in anticipation of receiving a portion of the financial recovery.

• Example 3: Real Estate Inheritance Battle

  Two siblings are engaged in a bitter legal dispute over the ownership of a valuable inherited property. One sibling is experiencing financial hardship and cannot afford the ongoing legal fees required to continue the fight. A distant relative, who is not an heir and has no claim to the property, offers to pay for all that sibling's legal expenses, including attorney fees and appraisal costs. This relative's agreement is that if the sibling wins full ownership of the property, the relative will receive 25% of the property's market value.

  This is an example of campipartia because the distant relative is a third party providing financial support for a lawsuit in which they have no direct legal interest, purely for the purpose of gaining a share of the property if the funded party prevails.