E.D. Pa. Finds Litigation Funding Materials Discoverable and Not Privileged

On September 16, 2020, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a decision in Midwest Athletics & Sports Alliance LLC v. Ricoh USA, Inc. (available here). The decision finds litigation-funding materials discoverable, and rejected a common-interest privilege argument. It further finds that disclosure of privileged materials to a funder waives privilege. A work-product argument was rejected because the “documents [at issue] [were] transactional” even if the “documents have some indirect connection to litigation because [plaintiff] was formed in order to monetize patents through litigation.” The court held that valuation documents shared with potential funders are (i) relevant to damages and (ii) not privileged (because they were shared). Bottom line: the law concerning discovery of litigation funding materials/communications remains in flux.