Steve Susman thinks his law firm, Houston-based Susman Godfrey, qualifies as one of the first commercial litigation funders in the U.S. When he launched the firm in 1980, he didn’t view it as a finance operation. But the model was similar: put the firm’s own capital towards claims on which other law firms weren’t willing to take risks. That’s likely part of why he wound up in New York on Wednesday, giving the keynote speech at the litigation finance industry’s second annual LF Dealmakers Forum.
