champerty

     Champerty is something you might have seen as part of the plot of a legal thriller. The lawyer or legal firm arguing a civil lawsuit may be paid with a share of the winnings. You may have seen an advertisement placed by a law firm, asking people who have taken a particular prescription drug to call.  If the firm wins a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the drug, each party to the suit--now a class action suit--will get one share of the money, and the law firm will get part of it. Champerty may mean that a law firm can "buy" someone's right to sue. For example, the law firm may pay each victim of a harmful pharmaceutical a sum of money. Then the law firm can sue the manufacturer of the drug that caused the injuries, and keep whatever it wins--all of it. Law firms who do this can make a lot of money with product liability awards.