champerty means the investing of money into a third party's lawsuit in which one has no vested interest. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 91 out of 100.
Why “champerty” is a great word
The illegal or unethical practice of financing another's lawsuit in exchange for a share of any proceeds. From Middle English champartie, from Anglo-French champartie, from Old French champart ("a feudal lord's share of produce from a tenant's field"), from Latin campī ("fields") + pars ("part"), first attested in the late 14th century. Unlike "maintenance," which is the mere meddling support of litigation, or the lawful "contingency fee" of an attorney, champerty is the speculative investment in another's grievance, a for-profit partnership in strife. It is the cold calculation behind a stranger's righteous fury, the quiet hand that buys the sword for another to wield, the harvesting of a legal crop from a field in which one has sown no seed—a transaction that turns justice into a commodity and the courtroom into a marketplace.
Etymology
From Middle English champartie, from Middle French champart (“field rent (portion of produce of field paid to feudal lord)”), probably from Latin campī (“fields”) + pars (“part”).
noun
- The investing of money into a third party's lawsuit in which one has no vested interest.