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The long-running rugby concussion group litigation has been pulled back from collapse after an eleventh-hour £1.5m payment satisfied a court-ordered costs liability owed to World Rugby and the Rugby Football Union.

As reported by Yahoo Sports, commercial litigation funder Asertis remained in place after the claimants changed law firms, meaning the costs order could be met. Had the payment not been made, the claims of roughly 1,000 former players would have been at risk.

The payment follows a reprieve granted in August, when Senior Master Jeremy Cook handed down a 13,500-word judgment granting relief from sanction in principle after Richard Boardman's Rylands Garth was replaced by KP Law. The claims of Phil Vickery and Steve Thompson had previously been ruled strike-out-worthy. Defendants had sought more than £2.8m in total, with Rugby Union costs assessed at £2.5m across World Rugby, the RFU and the WRU, and 60% ordered on an interim basis.

The litigation is not out of danger. Some 377 claimants still face automatic dismissal unless medical records are provided by the end of the month.

The episode is a clear illustration of a funder's role beyond case capital. Where a claimant group incurs an adverse costs order mid-proceeding, the funder's willingness to stand behind it determines whether the litigation continues at all. Asertis's decision to remain committed through a change of solicitor preserved a case begun in 2022.

Mixed martial arts fighters suing the UFC over alleged wage suppression are pushing back against the organisation's effort to obtain information about the litigation funding behind their case, characterising the request as a distraction from the merits of the antitrust claims.

As reported by Law360, the fighters' opposition follows the UFC's move earlier this month to press a Nevada federal judge to pull back the curtain on who is financing the proceedings. The dispute arises in Johnson et al v. Zuffa, LLC et al, No. 2:21-cv-01189, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. The October 15 report was written by Alex Lawson.

The case was filed in June 2021 by Kajan Johnson and C.B. Dollaway against Zuffa and Endeavor Group Holdings, and covers fighters competing from 2017 onward. It is the successor to Le v. Zuffa, which settled for $375 million covering bouts between December 2010 and June 2017 and received final approval from Judge Richard F. Boulware in February 2025 without any accompanying changes to the UFC's business practices.

Funding discovery has become a standard defence tactic in large antitrust and class proceedings, and the fighters' objection tracks arguments made by claimants elsewhere: that the identity of a funder is irrelevant to liability. The case has already generated other discovery friction, including a sanctions motion in February over alleged evidence destruction.

The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld a Chancery Court ruling rejecting claims that hedge fund manager Casey Gard and affiliated entities improperly shifted a litigation finance business away from a company he co-owned with attorney Brett K. Findler.

As reported by Law360, the October 16 decision ends Findler's challenge to the lower court's liability findings. Findler and Priority Pre-Settlement Funding LLC had urged the justices to revive claims that his former partner quietly moved the funding business into hedge funds that the partner controlled. Counsel for Gard countered that Findler knew about the arrangement, agreed to it, and helped implement it.

The court heard oral argument on October 14, two days before issuing its ruling. The matter was reported by Law360's Jarek Rutz.

The dispute is a reminder that ownership and control questions inside funding platforms can be as contested as the underlying claims those platforms finance. Pre-settlement consumer funding businesses are frequently built around a working relationship between a lawyer who sources cases and a capital provider who prices them, and the economics of that relationship are often documented informally. Where the capital later migrates to a different vehicle, the question of who consented to what becomes the whole case.

Delaware's appellate courts have become an increasingly common venue for litigation finance disputes, with the Superior Court adopting a rule earlier this month permitting limited discovery of funding agreements.

Two discrimination class actions brought on behalf of First Nations families in Queensland have been formally discontinued after the proceedings lost their litigation funding, bringing a three-year case to an end without any determination on the merits.

As reported by the National Indigenous Times, the actions were launched in 2023 in the Federal Court against the Queensland child safety department and were financed by Therium Litigation Finance Atlas. Therium terminated its support in September 2025. WGC Lawyers, which ran the proceedings, was unable to secure replacement funding and filed a discontinuance application in April.

Justice Craig Dowling noted that significant attempts had been made to find alternative backing. In September, he determined that discontinuance would not be unfair, unreasonable or adverse to the interests of group members. The case was disbanded Wednesday, with the official notice of discontinuance filed Friday.

Group members had sought compensation, a public apology, a consultation process aimed at restoring family relationships, and trauma-informed training for departmental staff. A grandmother identified as Cindy criticised the lack of communication with claimants as the case unwound.

Separate proceedings run by Shine Lawyers in Western Australia and New South Wales are unaffected.

The outcome illustrates how closely group proceedings in Australia remain tied to the commercial appetite of a single funder. Therium has been in run-off since 2023, and its withdrawal left a 2023-vintage action with no realistic path to trial despite court-acknowledged efforts to replace the capital.

ASX-listed Shine Justice has marked its 50th year with a return to profitability and an international mass torts strategy that depends heavily on third-party litigation funding.

As reported by TipRanks, the firm now operates across Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the United States, with practice concentrations in personal injury, class actions and international mass torts.

Results presented on August 28 showed adjusted revenue up 7.8% to A$220.4 million and adjusted EBITDA up 13.9% to A$44.7 million. Net profit after tax attributable to members reached A$9.3 million, up from A$0.6 million, while operating cash flow held steady at A$19 million. Net work in progress rose 0.9% to A$366.6 million, and the company declared a fully franked dividend of A$0.04 per share. Offsetting that, Shine booked an A$11.2 million provision following an adverse U.S. court decision in a legacy class action now under appeal, and reported six in-principle settlement agreements worth more than A$219 million.

The company describes a hub-and-spoke model in which a U.S. hub sources large mass tort cases and exports them to spokes in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, with balance sheet risk minimised through litigation funding. Shine has secured up to A$40 million for talcum powder litigation and expects further backing for comparable claims in New Zealand and Thailand.

Simon Morrison has moved from managing director to a senior role focused on international mass torts, with Carolyn Barker taking over as group chief executive. Chief financial officer Marc Devine guided to high single-digit personal injury revenue growth of about 8% in FY27.

Listed litigation funders are facing renewed scrutiny as fair-value accounting pushes losses from adverse court and arbitration outcomes into earnings well before any cash changes hands.

As reported by Traders Union, reversals at Burford Capital, Litigation Capital Management and others have intensified questions about valuation models that treat lawsuits as financial assets.

One recent flashpoint was a Paris-based ICC tribunal's dismissal of a $680 million claim against Nigeria that Burford had funded. The claim, brought by Sunrise Power, concerned a 2020 settlement the tribunal found had been signed by ministers who lacked authority to bind the state without presidential approval. Recoverability concerns were compounded by Sunrise Power's minimal assets and by cost penalties. Burford has separately absorbed the reversal of a $16.1 billion YPF judgment and a $2.4 billion write-down, while LCM has recorded a High Court loss alongside a 99% decline in its share price.

Under IFRS 9 and ASC 820, model-based unrealised gains and losses flow directly into reported earnings, tying marks to share prices, compensation and debt capacity. Net asset value therefore rests on probability-weighted assessments over which management retains significant discretion.

The scrutiny is not new. Muddy Waters alleged in 2019 that Burford "manipulates its performance metrics and abuses the latitude afforded it under fair value accounting," and the company later restated results for FY2019 through FY2022 following an SEC initiative. Burford has also reported a material weakness in internal controls affecting fair value measurement of capital provision assets, though it has pointed to $518.3 million in cash realizations year to date as evidence that timing, not deterioration, drives the volatility.

Apple has asked a federal court in San Diego to overturn or retry the largest patent verdict on record in the United States, a $5,721,961,750 award that carries a substantial litigation funding stake.

As reported by PYMNTS, a jury found on September 25 that the Taptic Engine used in iPhones and Apple Watches infringes two haptics patents held by Taction Technology. Apple is asking U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson to set aside the findings or order a new trial, and could then take the dispute to the Federal Circuit.

Taction sued in 2021 over patents describing tactile transducers that produce bass frequency vibrations. Apple had the case dismissed in 2023, but the Federal Circuit revived it last year after finding the dismissal rested on an unwritten requirement that improperly prevented Taction from relying on certain expert testimony. Apple maintains that the Taptic Engine is "fundamentally different from Taction's technology." Jurors found the infringement was not willful, removing the basis for treble damages.

Burford Capital is entitled to roughly a quarter of the award, or about $1.4 billion, split roughly evenly between its balance sheet and its investment funds. Burford has cautioned that the figure is likely to be altered in post-trial proceedings and that the parties could settle for considerably less. Gronostaj Investments LLC and Kenosha Investments LP were identified as funders in the proceedings. Apple sought unsuccessfully during the case to compel disclosure of the funding arrangements — an issue a federal rules committee is scheduled to take up on October 21.

Josh Wander, co-founder of private investment firm 777 Partners, has signaled in a court filing that he intends to change his plea in the federal fraud case accusing him of cheating lenders and investors out of almost $500 million. Wander had previously pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to appear Thursday at a hearing before a judge in Manhattan.

As reported by Bloomberg, the filing points to a negotiated resolution in a prosecution that had been set for trial this month.

Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Wander in October 2025 in federal court in Manhattan, charging wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy. Most of the counts carry a maximum of 20 years. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton alleged that Wander used 777 Partners to cheat private lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by pledging assets the firm did not own and by falsifying bank statements.

Prosecutors brought superseding charges in July 2026, to which Wander also pleaded not guilty. Those counts allege he diverted most of a $20 million loan into his own brokerage account and used phony bank statements to conceal that he had drained a restricted account tied to a different lender. The superseding indictment added a witness-tampering count, alleging Wander sent a former analyst a photograph of himself with his young child to discourage testimony.

Former 777 chief financial officer Damien Alfalla pleaded guilty to four felonies in October 2025 under a cooperation agreement. Wander had also applied to the Justice Department for a presidential pardon ahead of trial.

Ireland has brought its collective redress regime into operation with a new set of court rules and its first substantive judgment, yet the country's continuing prohibition on third-party litigation funding still stands between qualified entities and viable claims.

As reported by Arthur Cox, S.I. No. 488 of 2026 took effect on 12 October, inserting Order 15, rules 40 to 46 into the Rules of the Superior Courts and setting out the procedural framework for representative actions under the Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Act 2023. A separate instrument, S.I. No. 465 of 2026, exempted qualified entities from court fees from 11 September.

The firm's Richard Willis, Joanelle O'Cleirigh, Kate O'Donohoe, Edel Curry and Peter Woods also point to the first substantive judgment under the Act, *Irish Council for Civil Liberties v Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited* [2026] IEHC 640, delivered by Mr Justice Mulcahy.

Despite the procedural progress, the authors identify the funding prohibition as a material obstacle to the regime functioning as intended. Qualified entities must finance proceedings without recourse to commercial funders, a constraint that significantly narrows the range of claims that can realistically be brought. Recommendations from the Law Reform Commission on third-party funding remain outstanding, leaving the question of whether Ireland will relax its position unresolved as the new rules come into force.