Oct 11 (Reuters) - A data-deletion firm that has sued

over 100 businesses accusing them of running afoul of a New

Jersey law designed to shield the release of addresses and other

personal information of judges, police and prosecutors is being

backed by a third-party litigation funder, according to court

papers.

Atlas Data Privacy, a software firm that has been assigned

claims by over 19,000 people eligible for protection under the

law, disclosed it expected to soon deploy funding provided by

Parabellum Capital in a Thursday filing in New Jersey federal

court.

The New York-based litigation funder, which has over $1

billion in assets under management, spun out of Credit Suisse in

2012 and provides third-party funding to litigants in commercial

disputes in exchange for a share of any recovery.

In January, it said it closed on its third private fund with

total investor commitments of $754 million.

Often funding arrangements between plaintiffs and

third-party litigation funders go undisclosed. But New Jersey's

federal court in 2021 adopted a unique rule requiring litigants

to detail when they have such funding.

Atlas said that it was receiving non-resource financing that

would be "collateralized by litigation proceeds." It did not

provide details on the financial terms of the arrangement.

Parabellum CEO Howard Shams had no immediate comment. Atlas'

lawyers at PEM Law, Boies Schiller Flexner and Morgan & Morgan

did not respond to requests for comment.

The disclosure came a week after various companies sued by

Atlas went before U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle in Camden to

argue that its lawsuits should be dismissed on the grounds that

the New Jersey law known as Daniel's Law violated the companies'

free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First

Amendment.

The measure was signed into law in 2020 by Democratic

Governor Phil Murphy in response to the fatal shooting of the

20-year-old son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas at her New

Jersey home by a disgruntled lawyer.

The law, which has since been expanded, allows current and

former judges, law enforcement, prosecutors, and other officials

to request that private entities not disclose their home

addresses or unpublished home phone numbers.

Companies that do not comply with an official's request to

not disclose their information can be sued for damages.

A similar federal law named after Salas' son, the Daniel

Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, was enacted by

Congress in late 2022 and protects judges by shielding their

personal information online.

Atlas launched a wave of lawsuits earlier this year on

behalf of individuals covered by the law against real estate

businesses, marketing companies, data brokers and credit

reporting agencies. Defendants include CoStar Group ( CSGP ), Oracle

Corp ( ORCL ), Zillow ( ZG ) and Thomson Reuters ( TRI ), Reuters' parent company.

Thomson Reuters ( TRI ) in a statement said it was aware of the

litigation funding but was focused on addressing the merits of

the case. It said Daniel's Law "attempts to serve a laudable

goal" but in its current form violates the First Amendment.

Individuals who assigned claims to Atlas to pursue in court

stand to receive 65% of any judgment it recovers, according to a

court filing filed on Thursday. It has contingency-fee

arrangements with its law firms, according to another filing.

The case is Atlas Data Privacy Corp v. LightBox Parent LP,

et al, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, No.

22-4105.

For Atlas Data Privacy Corp: Rajiv Parikh of PEM Law, Mark

Mao of Boies Schiller Flexner and John Yanchunis of Morgan &

Morgan

For LightBox, et al: Kevin McDonough of Latham & Watkins

For New Jersey: Daniel Vannella of the New Jersey Office of

the Attorney General

Read more:

New Jersey defends privacy law shielding judges, prosecutors

US judicial panel to examine litigation finance disclosure

Litigation funders howl as N.J. adopts disclosure

requirement

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston)