Op-Ed: Rep. Jeff Duncan: Undisclosed litigation investments threaten American energy dominance

The United States is poised for an energy renaissance, with the potential to lead the way in oil, gas, nuclear, and renewable energy production. In his administration's early months, President Donald Trump removed barriers to greater American energy production, which will no doubt pay dividends in the years to come.

Still, some threats to American energy dominance continue to go overlooked. Chief among them is the problem of abusive lawsuits — funded by shadowy, often foreign-based entities that are exploiting our courts and targeting strategically-important industries like the U.S. energy sector.

Opportunistic investors now view lawsuits as a surefire way to turn a profit on the backs of productive, essential industries. Five years ago, the U.S. litigation finance industry was valued at $9.5 billion. Today that figure is over $15 billion with no signs of slowing down.

For these investors, courtrooms are not a place to adjudicate the truth, but instead a place to make a quick buck. American companies, meanwhile, are left having to expend resources fighting frivolous cases, resources which could otherwise be dedicated to building additional infrastructure and developing and bringing new products to market.

Litigation investors are capitalizing on a massive judicial blind spot. In most jurisdictions nationwide, there are no requirements for litigants to disclose their investors, meaning funders with ulterior motives can influence lawsuits while flying under the radar.

That’s why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among others, has called out undisclosed third-party litigation investments as a “risk to national security,” especially in industries connected to national strategic interests, like energy production. Indeed, these concerns have previously been echoed by now senior members of the Trump administration including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who acknowledged that “foreign funders have the potential to provide hostile foreign actors with sufficient sway to exert undisclosed influence on litigation moving through the federal judiciary, including litigation related to critical infrastructure,” and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who noted “nefarious third parties — including foreign adversaries…use lawsuits to access sensitive information, gain an unfair competitive advantage, and advance future litigation campaigns” against American businesses.

Even a cursory look at some of the largest litigation investors reveals potential conflicts. Burford Capital, the world’s largest litigation investor, promotes the expansion of its work with sovereign wealth fund partners. Another key player in U.S. litigation finance, Fortress Investment Group, has pumped over $6 billion into lawsuits, and is owned by a United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund. When lawsuits levied against crucial U.S. actors can be backed by geopolitical competitors, all without detection, that poses a clear vulnerability.

One area where lawsuit investors frequently operate through other entities to disguise their involvement is in intellectual property litigation. In 2022, for example, NGL Energy Partners — a company based in Tulsa working in the transportation and storage of crude oil — was sued for patent infringement by a subsidiary of IP Edge — a notorious “patent troll” at the center of a broader network of investors and shell companies that has been scrutinized for its lawsuits against productive American companies — over a patent that generally relates to video recording systems. Patent trolls like IP Edge and their funders should not be allowed to disrupt production, endanger jobs, and add costs for energy industry businesses.

In a 2023 U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on third-party litigation funding, Erik Milito, President of the National Ocean Industries Association, captured the threat posed to the energy industry by the sue-and-settle tactics used by outside groups. He noted that “the end result is an inability to move forward with investments in U.S. energy projects. The outcome of that is a shift in investment and production to other parts of the world.” With America’s competitive advantage in danger of slipping everywhere from Asia to the Middle East, the last thing the U.S. needs is greater dependence on foreign sources of energy to power our economy.

The information we currently have about litigation investors is only the tip of the iceberg. Without universal disclosure requirements, we simply won’t know what we don’t know as it pertains to threats to our energy economy. There are likely many other nefarious actors currently abusing our courtrooms for their own ends, all while tying up our companies in needless expenses and bogging down critical industries.

Thankfully, the U.S. Judicial Conference, which oversees the rules governing federal courts, is now studying a nationwide rule requiring the disclosure of litigation funders’ presence in lawsuits. If the Judicial Conference adopts mandatory disclosure requirements, it will move us past the current patchwork disclosure system and finally bring lawsuit investors out of the shadows.

We must continue removing barriers to U.S. energy dominance. The next step is exposing adversaries who are using our courtrooms to undermine essential industries.

Rep. Jeff Duncan represented South Carolina’s 3rd District from 2011 to 2025. He served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee; Chaired the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate & Grid Security; and served as the Chairman of the House Energy Action Team.