Litigation funding employed in £400m divorce

Funding firms steps in to help find alleged missing millions

The very public proceedings in the Young divorce case have made further headlines by highlighting the use of litigation funding to help find the alleged missing millions.

The proceedings in the High Court first hit the news after the husband claimed he was now penniless, though once worth £400m, and a retort from the wife that he had faked a mental breakdown to avoid discovery. The latest twist is the revelation that a commercial litigation funder, Harbour Litigation Funding, has now stepped in to assist the wife trace the allegedly missing money.

More on this story can be found on the FT website here. This development has also inspired Boris Johnson for his weekly Telegraph column, who reflects that such funding can only help London's image as the divorce capital of the world:

"These zillionaires are going to get divorced, whatever we do..... And if they are going to get divorced, isn't there a cynical economic logic in encouraging them to do it in London?

Far from being a sign of moral malaise, I am inclined to see this Divorce Fund initiative as the latest evidence of the resilience of the London economy."

The full article can be found on The Telegraph website here.