New survey results published Tuesday suggest that about a quarter of in-house counsel have direct experience using litigation funding, mainly at tech companies. The results also show that company legal departments often drive the decision to use third-party finance but that many in-house lawyers also have ethical reservations about the practice.

The findings were published by litigation funder Lake Whillans, which has offices in New York and Palo Alto, and Above the Law. Of 276 respondents across a total of 37 cities, a little more than 26 percent said they had firsthand experience working with a litigation finance firm.