The first chapter focuses on the general influence of foreign private money at the European and national judicial level. Drawing on the sparse literature on this issue, this chapter addresses why and how foreign private donors are interested in investing in litigation before the European human rights justice system. The evolution of the ECtHR into a powerful fundamental rights tribunal has made it much more attractive to private donors interested in human rights. More generally, both the CJEU and the ECtHR have established an internal structural incentive to litigate, in that repeated and well-funded litigators tend to come out ahead, not only because of the development of new structures and new powers but also because of the creation of legal precedent. This attractiveness is reinforced through the increasing role played by NGOs in litigation and third party interventions before both Courts. In addition, austerity policies have reinforced the influence of donors over NGOs. In this regard, less public funding for NGOs translates into more room for private donors to turn funding into influence.