The recent LF Dealmakers conference in NYC highlighted several key issues facing the funding industry. And there exists a clear overlap between litigation funding and IP, given that IP is the most-funded legal sector at the moment (additionally, the organizer of LF Dealmakers, Wendy Chou, hosts an annual IP Dealmakers event). So naturally, one of the topics discussed at LF Dealmakers is how IP lawyers should interact with the funding market. 

Burford Capital has commissioned a study by Joshua Mitts of Columbia Law School which found that there is indeed evidence to back the funder’s claim that it was the victim of market manipulation in the wake of the Muddy Waters attack which shed 50% of the stock’s valuation in a single day. Burford is presenting the study in court to compel the London Stock Exchange to release the names of the short-seller sho it says manipulated the trading. 

Third party funding is taking off in India, thanks in part to a robust construction and infrastructure sector that is asset and debt-heavy, yet encumbered with the prospect of litigation. 

New Zealand government insurer Southern Response wants to eschew a Court of Appeals order that  a portion of its settlement go to litigation funder Claims Funding Australia. Maurice Blackburn and Claims Funding took over representation for 3,000 claimants after a New Zealand court allowed an opt-out class action for only the second time in history. Southern Response is weighing an appeal to the decision, preferring to deal with the claimant pool directly. 

Defunct New Zealand firm Felted Carpets – which collapsed just two years after its IPO – is being sued on behalf of over 3,000 investors. Harbour Litigation Funding had funded the claim up through 2015, with ‘Stage 2 Funding’ coming from a group of investors including Joint Action Funding. Now, the Supreme Court has ordered a $1.65MM security for costs order, which the plaintiffs are contesting. 

The latest issue of Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession’s ‘The Practice’ magazine features a robust examination of the litigation finance industry, including how the industry operates, who the major players are, how deals get done, and what law students should do to secure a career in legal finance.