Alternative Litigation Funding and the Italian Perspective

Alternative Litigation Funding (ALF) refers to any practice whereby an entity not party to a dispute provides capital to claimants or defendants or in any way bears whole or part of the dispute costs, in exchange for a share of the expected financial recovery. For a few years, the use of ALF has experienced some success in certain common law jurisdictions but has not yet emerged in most (European Union) civil law countries. Italy is one of those countries in which ALF has not yet emerged, although court costs have steadily increased in recent years, and practitioners' claims for access to justice have multiplied. Against this background, after a comparative overview, this article aims to shed light on the current status and issues related to ALF in Italy. In doing so, some Italian legislation that might potentially involve this manner of funding will also be analysed, particularly with regard to the recent reforms of (civil and commercial) justice.