Trending Now

All Articles

3449 Articles
Case Developments Commercial

Camp Lejeune Claims Attracting $2 Billion in Litigation Funding

The Camp Lejeune tainted water scandal has been previously discussed as one of the most promising opportunities for mass claims in the US, with new reporting suggesting that the scale of litigation has already attracted almost $2 billion in investments from several funders. An article by Bloomberg Law details the range of litigation funding that is being supplied to law firms pursuing lawsuits on behalf of approximately one million veterans who were affected by water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, between 1953 and 1987. Citing research by Morning Investments, the article suggests that cases representing Camp Lejeune claimants have already experienced around $2 billion in litigation financing committed. Michael McDonald, partner at Morning Investments, has stated that the claims are already “saturated” with third-party funding. By analysing Uniform Commercial Code filings, Bloomberg Law has identified three law firms involved in Camp Lejeune litigation, which have already received third-party funding: TorHoerman Law, Milberg, and Bell Legal Group.  Whilst the identity of the specific funders involved has not been confirmed in each of these instances, Bloomberg’s reporting has identified Pravati Capital and Rocade Capital as two funders which have provided financing to Bell Legal Group, with the latter also having a lien with TorHoerman Law. Rocade’s CEO, Brian Roth, stated that whilst the funder’s loan to Bell Legal Group was not typical for its strategy, the law firm’s early involvement in the Camp Lejeune case was a key factor, highlighting that “Bell has been involved really longer than probably just about any firm at scale in the market.”  Jerrold Parker, founding partner at Parker Waichman LLP, another firm representing Camp Lejeune victims, suggested that funders are particularly interested in these cases because “the way the law that passed was written, it makes the recovery extremely likely.” Epitomising the value that many funders are seeing in this opportunity, Rebecca Berrebi, founder of Avenue 33, said that “nothing in investing is a sure thing, but when you’re looking for a sure thing, this is kind of the closest you can get to it.” Bloomberg also identified American Law Firm Capital as another funder that had approached law firms who are considering bringing Camp Lejeune claims. In contrast, C Cubed Capital Partners had declined a request from a law firm for $50 million in funding, with co-founder Lisa DiDario stating that whilst recovery was guaranteed in these cases, “the amounts and the timing is still to be determined.”
Announcements Case Developments Commercial

Litigation Capital Management Limited: Progress on Fund I investment

Litigation Capital Management Limited (AIM:LIT), an alternative asset manager specialising in dispute financing solutions internationally, announces a positive development on an investment within its Fund I portfolio. LCM has funded a claim advanced in respect of a breach of a bilateral investment treaty and brought under the International Centre For Settlement Of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention. An ICSID tribunal has issued an award on jurisdiction, liability, damages and costs in favour of LCM’s funded party. The quantum of the award entered in favour of LCM’s funded party is USD$ 76.7m (c. AUD$ 109m) plus interest and costs. This means that LCM’s funded party has succeeded in the claim. If the award is not subject to challenge and is not satisfied the dispute will move to an enforcement stage. We will assess any further funding requirements once the enforcement strategy has been finalised. The issuing of the award in favour of LCM’s funded party has significantly de-risked this investment. LCM has invested approximately AUD$ 5.7m (USD$ 4m) in this dispute to date. In line with our usual practice LCM’s returns are calculated as a rising multiple of invested capital over time. As such we cannot calculate our overall return on this investment until it concludes. The investment however is no longer attended with liability and quantum risk as that has been decided. Final performance will be announced to the market after conclusion of the investment. Patrick Moloney, CEO of LCM, commented: “This is a significant and positive development in this investment. Subject to any challenge to the very favourable award we now move to an enforcement stage, after which we will see the benefit of the leveraged returns available from our Fund Management strategy.” About LCM Litigation Capital Management (LCM) is an alternative asset manager specialising in disputes financing solutions internationally, which operates two business models. The first is direct investments made from LCM's permanent balance sheet capital and the second is third party fund management. Under those two business models, LCM currently pursues three investment strategies: Single-case funding, Portfolio funding and Acquisitions of claims. LCM generates its revenue from both its direct investments and also performance fees through asset management. LCM has an unparalleled track record driven by disciplined project selection and robust risk management. Currently headquartered in Sydney, with offices in London, Singapore, Brisbane and Melbourne, LCM listed on AIM in December 2018, trading under the ticker LIT. www.lcmfinance.com
Announcements Commercial Legal Innovation

Latest Burford Quarterly journal of legal finance addresses top trends in business of law

Burford Capital, the leading global finance and asset management firm focused on law, today releases its latest Burford Quarterly, a journal of legal finance that explores the top trends impacting the business of law. The latest issue of the Burford Quarterly 3 2023 includes:
  • Best practices for building contingency fee practices
Co-Chair of Cadwalader's antitrust litigation group Philip Iovieno shares best practices for firms and lawyers expanding contingency fee practices with Burford Chief Marketing Officer Liz Bigham.
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion in the business of law
Laura Durrant, Chief Executive Officer of the Black Talent Charter (recently signed by the UK's Supreme Court), discusses diversity in law and how to move the needle in professional services with Burford Vice President Hannah Howlett. 
  • Best practices for managing accurate litigation budgets
In-house lawyers say litigation budgets are less accurate than they would like. Senior Vice President Suzanne Grosso shares guidance on litigation budgeting. 
  • Monetization of corporate patents and patent divestitures
A group of patent experts discuss how businesses, both large and small, are monetizing corporate patents in a roundtable moderated by Managing Director Eric Carlson.
  • Mining sector dispute trends
With a $1.7 trillion increase in investment anticipated in the mining sector, experts agree that disputes are likely to arise. Experts from top firms and consultancies discuss, in a roundtable moderated by Director Jeffery Commission.
  • The rise of award monetization in Europe
More businesses in continental Europe are monetizing or assigning arbitration claims and awards to accelerate value and de-risk matters. Burford's Head of Europe Philipp Leibfried and Director Jörn Eschment discuss this trend.
  • Legal finance case law update
Recent court decisions reflect the growing acceptance of commercial legal finance. Burford Director Andrew Cohen provides an overview of relevant legal finance case law from the last year.
Commercial Regulatory Issues

Irish Law Reform Commission Publishes Consultation Paper on Third-Party Litigation Funding

Although the use of litigation funding continues to increase in many jurisdictions, both in terms of the volume of funded disputes and in the value of the legal actions being financed, those countries where its use is still prohibited are often proving slow to move towards a welcoming regulatory environment. Ireland is one such jurisdiction that many industry observers have been watching to see whether there would be any positive movement towards the acceptance of litigation financing, and we have seen a potentially encouraging sign from the Law Reform Commission. An article from Independent.ie covers the news that Ireland’s Law Reform Commission has published its ‘Consultation Paper on Third-Party Litigation Funding’, which sets out the current position on litigation finance and seeks external views on the country’s path forward. The 207-page document is divided into seven sections, which include analyses of the current Irish law on third-party funding, and then looks at policy considerations around legalisation, as well as the kinds of legislative models that could be used in any potential legalisation. In its analysis of models, the paper considers examples from England and Wales, New Zealand, and Hong Kong; with the commission examining the advantages and disadvantages of each country’s regulatory structure, and how they might be applied to Ireland’s legal system. As the commission is seeking external views on the paper, it has provided a list of questions to guide this feedback that are aimed at tackling the most important issues for any future legalisation or regulation of third-party funding in Ireland.  The commission requests any views to be submitted by 3 November 2023 and can be submitted by email at ThirdPartyFunding@lawreform.ie, or by post to the Law Reform Commission, Styne House, Upper Hatch Street, Dublin 2 D02 DY27.
Announcements Commercial

Litigation Capital Management to announce strongest results to date, dividend payment, and transition to fair value accounting

Litigation Capital Management Limited (AIM:LIT), a leading alternative asset manager of disputes financing solutions, provides a market update for the twelve month period to 30 June 2023 (“FY2023”).

Following a number of recent resolutions in the second half of FY23, the result for the full year will deliver LCM’s strongest performance to date by a significant margin. The Company is well positioned for the year ahead with in excess of A$80m in cash held at period end. We will provide further details with the release of our year end results.

The Company wishes to update the market on two important developments.

Reporting update – Transition to Fair Value Accounting

The evolution of the Company’s business over the past two years, transitioning away from the legacy direct investments business model and towards positioning LCM as an Alternative Asset Manager, necessitated the need to review the Company’s accounting policies. In consultation with our advisers, the Board has taken the important decision to transition to Fair Value accounting.  This will put LCM in line with industry peers in both accounting policy and fair value framework. In doing so, we expect to announce our audited results for FY2023 under both the existing accounting policies as well as the newly adopted Fair Value accounting. This will provide our investors with better transparency on the impact of the transition.

Dividend

Following the strong financial performance of the business during FY2023, the Board has decided to pay a dividend of 2.25p per ordinary share payable to Shareholders. The dividend timetable for this distribution will be contained within the FY2023 results announcement.

Patrick Moloney, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are pleased with the performance of the business over the past 12 months, particularly as we begin to see the benefits of moving to a fund management business model. Our strong financial performance is the best in LCM’s history and reflected in the Board’s decision to pay a dividend.”

Jonathan Moulds, Chair, commented: “The transition to Fair Value accounting is a significant milestone for LCM.  We believe this decision just taken by the Board should be welcomed by investors. Given the strong performance, the underlying pipeline and cash reserves LCM has built up, it is an appropriate time to pay this dividend.  The Board will continue to keep under review the optimal way to return value to shareholders, balancing our future investment opportunities with the importance of rewarding our shareholders.”

About LCM

Litigation Capital Management (LCM) is an alternative asset manager specialising in disputes financing solutions internationally, which operates two business models. The first is direct investments made from LCM's permanent balance sheet capital and the second is third party fund management. Under those two business models, LCM currently pursues three investment strategies: Single-case funding, Portfolio funding and Acquisitions of claims. LCM generates its revenue from both its direct investments and also performance fees through asset management.

LCM has an unparalleled track record driven by disciplined project selection and robust risk management. Currently headquartered in Sydney, with offices in London, Singapore, Brisbane and Melbourne, LCM listed on AIM in December 2018, trading under the ticker LIT.

www.lcmfinance.com

Announcements Commercial Fundraising

EJF CAPITAL AND ROCADE LLC RAISE APPROXIMATELY $470 MILLION FOR CREDIT-FOCUSED LITIGATION FINANCE PLATFORM

EJF Capital LLC (“EJF Capital”), a global alternative asset management firm, today announced the successful close of its fourth installment of litigation finance investment vehicles, Rocade Capital Fund IV LP and Rocade Capital Offshore Fund IV LP (the “Funds”) with approximately $220 million in investor subscriptions and commitments. Previously, EJF Capital and funds affiliated with Barings LLC, one of the world’s leading investment managers, formed a joint venture specialty finance company, Rocade LLC (“Rocade”), with $250 million of committed capital designed to invest alongside the Funds. The combined capital commitments raised across Rocade and the Funds totals approximately $470 million.

Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, Rocade provides flexible law firm financing solutions, with facilities ranging in size from $10 million to over $100 million secured by contingent fees receivable or other litigation assets. Since the strategy’s inception in 2014, Rocade and its predecessor have funded over $1 billion of loans to leading law firms within mass tort and other complex litigation, unlocking potential for dozens of growing law firms.

Brian Roth, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Rocade, said, “We are grateful to our investors for their strong support and are pleased to welcome new institutional investors to the Rocade platform. We believe Rocade is well-positioned to leverage the team’s deep sector expertise, flexible structuring capabilities, and long-term investment approach to best serve our law firm clients.”

Emanuel Friedman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EJF Capital, added, “We are pleased to support Rocade’s continued growth. This expanded capital base will allow Rocade to quickly scale its platform and enable EJF to offer investors access to what we believe is an uncorrelated asset class with a credit-focused approach that offers attractive risk-adjusted returns.”

About EJF Capital

EJF Capital LLC is a global alternative asset management firm headquartered outside of Washington, D.C. with offices in London, England and Shanghai, China. As of March 31, 2023, EJF manages approximately $6.9 billion across a diverse group of alternative asset strategies. EJF has 50 employees, including a seasoned investment team of 20 professionals. The firm was founded in 2005 by Manny Friedman and Neal Wilson. To learn more, please visit http://ejfcap.com and please read additional Risks and Limitations located here.

About Rocade

Rocade LLC is a private credit firm which provides flexible growth capital for plaintiff law firms in order to finance case acquisition, manage working capital or realize settled cases. Its flexibility, industry expertise, track record and long-term focus position it to be a leading credit provider in the litigation finance space. Rocade has an experienced team of professionals, located in the Washington, D.C. area and Houston, TX, which includes both finance industry veterans as well as litigation experts. For more information, please visit https://rocadecapital.com/.

About Barings

Barings is a $362+ billion* global investment manager sourcing differentiated opportunities and building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate, and specialist equity markets. With investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, aims to serve its clients, communities and employees, and is committed to sustainable practices and responsible investment.

*Assets under management as of March 31, 2023.

Case Developments Commercial

In-Principle Settlement Agreement Reached in Colonial First State Class Action

The combination of class actions and litigation funding has proven to be an incredibly powerful tool in holding large corporations to account, providing the needed capital to balance the scales between consumers and companies. This can be important for those lawsuits that must go all the way to completion to succeed, and proves that the power of third-party funding often lies in its ability to bring the defendant to the negotiating table to agree to a settlement. Reporting by Insurance News covers the latest development in the class action brought against Colonial First State Investments, which alleged that the wealth manager charged its customers excessive fees to pay commissions to financial advisers, without those advisers providing services to those customers. Following a court-ordered mediation on June 16, Colonial First State and Slater & Gordon, who have been leading the class action on behalf of consumers, agreed to a $100 million settlement which will now need to be approved by the court. Following the initial agreement of the settlement, Colonial First State said that if approved, the settlement will be distributed to “eligible group members” of the class action following any deductions to cover legal fees and commission to the third-party funder. Whilst the article does not name the specific litigation funder who has been financing this class action, Slater & Gordon’s website already confirmed that the lawsuit has been fully funded by a third-party, and none of the class action members would be required to cover the litigation costs. Even though Colonial First State has agreed to resolve the litigation through a settlement, the company made clear that it “continues to deny the allegations and makes no admissions of liability or wrongdoing.”
Commercial Regulatory Issues

Ireland Approves Third Party Rules for International Arbitration Funding 

Ireland's President has approved legislation that allows third parties to finance international commercial arbitration. Historically, Ireland has enacted a very restrictive approach to third party funding vehicles to finance litigation costs in the name of champerty.  Mondaq reports that legislative approval of Ireland's "Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023" advances many provisions concerning Ministerial Order. While Ireland still maintains a hawkish approach to champerty, now litigation financiers can enter into investment agreements to fund international arbitration proceedings.  Anticipation has been building that Ireland's Law Reform Commission may release new guidelines to vacate the broad prohibition of third party funding. Specifically, Ireland has only approved third party funding of dispute level proceedings, including international commercial arbitration, mediation, conciliation and/or court proceedings derived from international commercial arbitration. Previously, Ireland's Supreme Court had been hesitant to embrace the notion of litigation finance in any form.
Announcements Commercial Legal Innovation

FIGHTRIGHT Technologies Launches LawGeek, an AI Chatbot for Initial Legal Guidance, Under its “BharatKanoon” Brand

FIGHTRIGHT Technologies, a startup specializing in litigation funding & analytics, has announced the launch of its generative AI-based chatbot, LawGeek, today. This innovative tool, the first offering under the BharatKanoon brand, is engineered to provide users with a foundational direction for their legal queries, a pioneering move in their legal research journeys.
LawGeek, pronounced as 'logic,’ is currently in the beta phase and will serve as an initial guidepost for legal research. It will save users time by pointing them in the right direction and providing the critical information they need.
This project marks a significant stride towards revolutionizing the realm of legal research and is poised to be a precious asset for law students, legal professionals, and the general public in search of legal information.
"At FIGHTRIGHT, we have always believed in the transformative power of AI in redefining how we access legal advice," said Nitin Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of FIGHTRIGHT Technologies. "Our AI chatbot, LawGeek, in its beta version under the BharatKanoon brand, demonstrates our steadfast commitment to making basic legal knowledge more readily available to everyone."
Differentiating itself through the employment of a sophisticated generative AI model, LawGeek, in its beta phase, doesn't merely offer static responses based on pre-set rules. Instead, it is designed to comprehend users' queries in-depth and generate responses carrying pertinent information.
With continuous learning and enhancements in subsequent versions, LawGeek is expected to offer deeper insights into the litigation journeys users are embarking upon.
"Our AI chatbot is named LawGeek, combining the essence of law with the modern era's technology obsession," stated Vishal Mangal, COO and Co-Founder of FIGHTRIGHT Technologies. "The name 'LawGeek' perfectly encapsulates our vision of creating a tool that is both proficient in the complexities of law and passionate about technology, much like a 'geek'. We see LawGeek as a digital ally for those starting their legal journeys in this digital era."
The beta launch of LawGeek follows intensive testing and development, emphasizing a user-friendly, intuitive, and technically proficient tool. This launch, under the BharatKanoon brand, represents an exciting leap forward in how legal professionals and laypeople can access and understand basic legal information.
About FIGHTRIGHT Technologies
FIGHTRIGHT Technologies is an innovative startup based in Kolkata, India. Its primary areas of focus include:
Litigation Funding: FIGHTRIGHT Technologies offers non-recourse funding to claimants/litigants with commercial claims to support their litigation expenses.
Litigation Analytics: The company employs advanced AI and machine learning technologies to provide practical and reliable legal information that is strategic to any litigation. Their tools assist in processing and analyzing vast volumes of legal data, leading to more informed decisions and strategies.
Under the BharatKanoon brand, and with the beta launch of LawGeek, FIGHTRIGHT Technologies takes an essential first step towards making basic legal knowledge even more accessible. Users can now receive immediate, preliminary answers to their legal queries.
To explore how the beta version of LawGeek under BharatKanoon can provide immediate answers to your law-related questions, please visit: https://bharatkanoon.ai/
We invite you to experience the potential of AI in simplifying your legal journey, starting with LawGeek.