Sir Julian Smith

Sir Julian Smith

Conservative — Skipton and Ripon

Speaking in the House of Commons on 29 October 2025

Debate

Civil Justice Council Review of Litigation Funding

Contribution

I agree with the hon. Member; the Vodafone case, which involved franchisees across the UK, is another example of how litigation funding can help. The Supreme Court’s judgment in the PACCAR case in July 2023, which involved a claim against truck manufacturers for anti-competitive behaviour, rendered many third-party funding agreements unenforceable by bringing them in scope of another type of legal funding agreement, damage-based agreements. The impact of the judgment on the litigation funding market has been two years of instability and a lack of clarity about its contractual operating terms. The last Government sought to remedy the issue by introducing the Litigation Funding Agreements (Enforceability) Bill, which had reached Second Reading in the House of Lords immediately prior to the election.

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