Litigation funding: Keep on truckin’?

• Looks at the facts, law and reasoning in Paccar Inc v CAT.
• Assesses the impact of the case on the litigation funding industry.

In July 2023, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) took many by surprise when it issued its judgment in an appeal brought by Paccar Inc, DAF Trucks NV and DAF Trucks Deutschland GmbH against the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), UK Trucks Claim Ltd (UKTC) and the Road Haulage Association (RHA). To the astonishment of many, the court’s decision struck at what had hitherto been regarded as solid ground and the foundation for very many litigation funding arrangements in the UK. The implications of this surprising decision are reverberating around the litigation funding industry in the UK with many players expressing concern about whether funding in its previously accepted form can continue.

The UKSC’s judgment that litigation funding agreements (LFAs) that take the form of a damages-based agreement