Key Takeaways from LFJ’s Special Digital Event on Australia: The Evolution of a Litigation Finance Market
On Tuesday June 15th, LFJ hosted a special digital event on Australia: The Evolution of a Litigation Finance Market. Moderator Ed Truant (ET), founder of Slingshot Capital, helmed a panel discussion that covered a broad range of issues facing the Australian market. Panelists included Andrew Saker (AS), CEO of Omni Bridgeway, Stuart Price (SP), CEO of CASL, and Patrick Moloney (PM), CEO of Litigation Capital Management. Below are some key takeaways from the event: ET: From my perspective, and I have diligenced many managers on a global basis, the Australian fund managers seem to be the most successful and consistently performing fund managers in the world, can you offer any insight as to why that may be the case? PM: The fact that the panelists here today have been around since the inception of the industry in Australia, it’s given us a long time to think long and hard about not only how we originate these opportunities for investment, but how we undertake the due diligence process, and how we manage those processes. AS: There’s a combination of factors. It’s partly to do with the strength of the legal system here in Australia, involving a sophisticated judiciary. As a second point, there’s historically been limited competition. As a consequence, litigation funders could afford to be more choosy—and cases were generally of higher quality. ET: Another difference in the Australian market is the concept of contingent fees for law firms. Can you comment about why that really doesn’t exist in the Australian market? Is that changing, and what effect may that have? SP: Contingency fees were introduced in 2020 in Victoria, where law firms were able to receive a return/reward of the settlement proceeds. This has really expanded the litigation funding market—providing different forms of litigation funding for plaintiffs—that should be a positive outcome. PM: There’s a strongly held perception in Australia that there’s a conflict of interest between lawyers participating, and having their fees tied to the outcome of a particular dispute resolution. I think that’s one of the reasons Australia has resisted the contingency fee type of charging that has been prevalent for many years in places like the US. ET: Do you find that people consider Australia a market leader in Litigation Finance in terms of innovation? Have you seen examples of Australian innovation cross-pollinating to other jurisdictions? PM: I’m not sure that Australia really has led a tremendous amount of innovation in our industry. Our greatest innovation is in taking this industry and turning it into a business. AS: Australia has been innovative in the evolution of the business, and its coupling with the conducive class action regime we have here in Australia. There are some very good minds around the world within our organization and elsewhere that are taking this industry in new directions. It’s still very much in its infancy, and the next steps for its evolution are going to be interesting and exciting to see. ET: As your business grew, what changes did you witness in terms of regulatory, legislative, etc. And how did those changes affect the market? AS: I’m a recent newcomer to the industry. I’ve been with Omni Bridgeway now for six years. During that period, we’ve seen the growth of the industry and its continued adoption outside the traditional uses of litigation funding. So that’s one of the more significant changes we’ve seen—adoption by corporates, for exploring ways to mitigate legal risk. The other significant issue is the growth of regulation and the industry of criticism that seems to be evolving toward litigation finance, which all started from a very noble social access to justice limb. I think it continues to have those characteristics. But for whatever reason, an ear has been gained for those who are critical of the industry—which will lead to a reassessment of how the industry is regulated and run. PM: I’ve been involved in this industry directly now for 18 years. The greatest shift I’ve observed has been that shift between those who use litigation finance for necessity to those who use it through choice. People who need finances in order to continue their dispute or go through the arbitral process. And the maturing of our industry has now brought it to larger corporates who use litigation finance as an incredibly efficient capital source to run their portfolio disputes and manage risk, and to also bring in an efficient way of managing disputes through to their conclusion. ET: Looking forward, in the insolvency market, there’s an expected tsunami of insolvency claims post-COVID, yet Australia as a country appears to have managed the economic impact perhaps better than the rest of the world. Is the tsunami coming? SP: Australia has done remarkably well on a global scale. Its economy is strong and it seems to have weathered the impact of COVID very well. I’ve been speaking with a number of insolvency practitioners, and they do not expect a tsunami. They certainly don’t expect a large wave—but out of any crisis will always come bad behavior and some insolvencies. So for people who are committed to the insolvency market, when you’re there consistently, you’ll have a relatively consistent stream of opportunities. There is unlikely to be a tsunami—but as ever there will be corporate misbehavior, which can lead to insolvencies.
