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Commercial

Another Billionaire Secretly Finances Litigation – This Time Over a Jeff Koons Scuplture

First there was Peter Thiel, who backed Hulk Hogan's successful lawsuit against Gawker, and now there's Ronald Perelman. Perelman, who runs the conglomerate MacAndrews & Forbes Group (MAFG), has been secretly funding Hollywood Produer Joel Silver's lawsuit against art gallery owner Larry Gagosian. The funding deal was uncovered by Gagosian's lawyers, who wrote a letter to the judge seeking to compel disclosure of alleged non-privileged communication between the two. As reported in Artnet, Silver - who produced The Matrix and Lethal Weapon series - purchased an $8MM Jeff Koons balloon sculpture from Gagosian's gallery. Silver began paying for the sculpture in installments, but ceased payment and sued the gallery when Gagosian allegedly failed to deliver the sculpture on time. Perelman has previously sued Gagosian for failure to deliver on time as well, after Perelman purchased a dozen works of art for $45MM, including a Koons sculpture. Perelman's suit was ultimately dismissed. However, it seems Perelman never forgot his experience with Gagosian's gallery and has decided to finance a third party lawsuit a' la Peter Thiel. Upon discovery of Perelman's financing, Gagosian's attorneys requested that Judge Peter Sherwood compel Silver to disclose Perelman's exact involvement in the case. Their letter also expressed concern that Silver may have violated the case's confidentiality order by disclosing certain information to MAFG. Silver allegedly confirmed outside funding of his claim. His attorney has since announced that he and Gagosian have settled their respective suits (Gagosian had been countersuing), and that Silver will move ahead with his acquisition of the Koons sculpture.
Commercial

NYC Bar to Keep Comments on Ethics of Litigation Funding Private

The comment period for the NYC Bar's recent opinion on third party funding has ended. The NYC Bar found that when funders collect a percentage of fees, the practice constitutes fee sharing between lawyers and non-lawyers, and should therefore be prohibited. The Bar accepted opinions from the public on its recent ethics opinion, and spokesman Eric Friedman has said those opinions will be kept private. As reported in Legal News Line, although the NYC Bar is going to keep the opinions it has received private, many in the funding industry have already voiced their dissent quite publicly. Validity Finance CEO Ralph Sutton recently penned an op-ed where he declared third party funding as an important access-to-justice point for many businesses and individuals. Sutton went even further, in suggesting that it may be unethical for lawyers not to tell their clients about the existence of third party funding. Many have shot back at the idea that funding agreements should be disclosed, claiming that such measures would lead to a 'discovery sideshow,' whereby defendants would move to disclose all matters under the sun, in a bid to stretch out the litigation and pile on excess costs. The New York City Bar’s Working Group on third party funding will release its final report by the end of the year.
Announcements Consumer

Oasis Financial Selects New CEO

Oasis Financial announces the appointment of Greg Zeeman as its new Chief Executive Officer. Zeeman takes over responsibilities from interim CEO, Jack Lavin. Oasis Financial is the nation’s leading provider of consumer litigation finance solutions to plaintiffs, attorneys, and medical providers through its Oasis and Key Health brands. Both Mr. Zeeman and Mr. Lavin will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Managers.

“I’m honored to join the Oasis team,” said Zeeman. “As an industry leader in the provision of both pre-settlement and medical funding solutions, I believe we are extremely well positioned for the next chapter of dramatic growth. We have a proven platform that will enable strong organic growth and an industry landscape that provides for exciting partnership and acquisition opportunities.”

Zeeman is a veteran in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Oasis Financial, he served as Chief Operating Officer for Enova International, a global credit and lending company, and as Chief Executive Officer for Main Street Renewal, a leading home renovation and leasing company across the U.S. He also previously served as Chief Operating Officer for HSBC USA.

“Greg was a natural fit for this opportunity given his leadership experience in financial services, his passion for creating winning teams, and his talent for driving scalable growth,” said Zach Sadek, Partner at Parthenon Capital. Oasis’ financial sponsors include Parthenon Capital and Waterfall Asset Management.

More About Oasis Financial & Key Health  Oasis Financial was founded in 1996 by attorneys who saw a need among clients burdened with increasing medical and living expenses, but their cases weren’t settling fast enough to keep up with their bills. The attorneys launched Oasis to provide a way for plaintiffs to receive an advance on their settlement and make life livable until their case closed. Today, Oasis has helped over 300,000 consumers make ends meet while waiting for their case to settle. In 2017, Oasis merged with Key Health, the nation’s leader in medical lien funding. Key Health works with medical providers spanning the U.S. who offer services to injured victims on a lien or letter of protection basis as part of a personal injury claim. Together, Oasis and Key Health help personal injury victims recover both physically and financially from an accident. Working with more than 14,000 attorneys and maintaining relationships with more than 10,000 physicians, Oasis and Key Health help ensure consumers who are injured in an accident have access to great healthcare, as well as funds to cover life’s other expenses while waiting for a personal injury case to settle.

More information can be found at http://www.oasisfinancial.com/about-oasis.

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Announcements Commercial

Pravati Capital Announces Launch of Law Firm Consulting Business

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pravati Capital (Company), a leading litigation finance and law firm consulting company, announced today that the Company has formally launched its law firm consulting business, Pravati Management Group.

Pravati Management Group was formed to function as a management consultant. The group's experienced team helps law firms take a strategic approach to access, deploy, and manage growth capital for partner and practice acquisition and build a scalable financial and operational infrastructure to drive growth. Pravati Management Group offers counsel on strategy, business decisions, and best practices. Counsel could include input on practice area expansion, talent, potential mergers and acquisitions, financial and operational infrastructure, succession planning, and marketing.

Pravati Capital's primary business is commercial litigation finance, which focuses on providing capital to support both law firms and corporations pursuing high merit cases.

"Managing the business side of a law firm has become more complex," commented Alexander Chucri, Chief Executive Officer of Pravati Capital. "Over the past 16 years, Pravati has gained invaluable insights into the challenges faced by midsize law firms. Our objective at Pravati Management Group is to use our wealth of experience to help a law firm's leadership team make the right decisions on growth strategies and operating models to better use our capital to expand."

Robert S. Schulman, who joined Pravati Capital in 2017 as Commercial Litigation Finance Advisor, will help to grow Pravati Management Group. Mr. Schulman has significant experience in complex commercial litigation and deep expertise in the business management of law firms.

"We are experiencing high demand from law firms looking for capital and business counsel to responsibly scale their firms," added Alexander Chucri. "Bob Schulman is a trusted resource, and his knowledge and insight will help our clients grow and mitigate risk across their firms."

Robert S. Schulman

Robert S. Schulman has practiced law for over 50 years, focusing on commercial litigation involving major corporations in the financial and manufacturing sectors. Prior to joining Pravati Capital in 2017, Mr. Schulman was a senior litigation partner in the Los Angeles offices of Fulbright & Jaworski, where he served as the firm's Chairman of its Accounting Profession Practice Committee and a member of the Los Angeles offices' Leadership Council. Among his numerous honors is his selection by the Chambers Guide as one of the top 13 commercial litigators in the state of California.

Mr. Schulman has also served several terms as an Adjunct Professor of Law at The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Mr. Schulman received his Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law.

About Pravati Capital

As a leader in the litigation financing field, Pravati Capital has changed how law firms envision their future. For more than a decade, we have been at the forefront of litigation financing solutions, creating innovative sources for bridge capital. It is our mission to provide innovative, efficient capital solutions for law firms, compassionate assistance to plaintiffs, and a secure alternative investment option for accredited investors. For more information, please visit our website at Pravati Capital or call 1.844.772.8284. You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Commercial

Litigation Funding & ATE Insurance: A Match Made in Legal Heaven

At yesterday's 2nd annual IMN Conference on Litigation Finance, a crowd of industry participants, experts, and interested parties gathered at The Union League Club in Midtown Manhattan to discuss key topics facing the industry. One of the more interesting back-and-froths took place during the first panel, where some light was shed on litigation funding's overlap with ATE insurance, and how even countries like the US are getting in on the ATE act as a form of overall risk reduction. The first panel of the day covered a broad array of topics, including growth in the US market (spoiler, there's plenty), growth in the international market (ahem, IA in Asia takes the cake here; although the Nordic countries in Europe were also mentioned as areas of growth), and ethical hurdles facing the industry (it rhymes with 'Schmandatory disclosure'). But perhaps the most interesting segment of the panel focused on the relationship between litigation finance and ATE insurance. ATE - or 'after the event' insurance - is a product typically offered in cost-shifting jurisdictions like the UK, to protect plaintiffs from having to fully cover an adverse costs award. Jo Burgess, Strategy and Operations Director at UK-based Affiniti Finance (and soon to be an LFJ Podcast guest), explained that ATE insurance has actually been around for much longer than people realize - going on 20 years now. Often times, ATE insurers don't understand the nuances of the law, and how to properly assess risk in the Legal Services environment. As a result, litigation funders like Affiniti end up working very closely with ATE insurers to help them assess their risk pools and underwrite claims. In some cases, Affiniti will even finance the insurance premiums themselves - so they insure the insurance. Of course there are risks here, as ATE insurers have gone bankrupt, which of course renders their agreements null and void. Fortunately, Affiniti hasn't encountered any such circumstance, though the potential looms. Burgess then pointed out that even countries without cost-shifting, such as the United States, are beginning to use ATE insurance as a means of hedging their risk. ATE insurance affords law firms and funders the opportunity to spread their risk across a wider range of cases, and therefore accept more claims which expands their overall risk appetite - something the industry has long been craving. At this point, Jay Greenberg of US-based funder LexShares, took the opportunity to muse on the fact that there aren't more fully-insured litigation products in the US. Greenberg offered the following hypothetical: Say a funder is pricing its deals to yield a 100% annualized return, and say the funder has an 80% win rate. So the book is yielding an 80% IRR. Even if the funder absorbed an extremely expensive insurance product - one that eats up half of earnings - that still leaves the funder with a 40% IRR. Any institutional investor would gobble up that return, especially as it is de-risked from an insurance perspective. A de-risked 40% return might even be more attractive to an underwriter than a risk-heavy 80% return. Stuart Grant of Bench Walk Advisors pointed out that we actually are seeing that scenario play out... just not with insurance companies! It's actually investors who are insuring litigation products, and they are doing so with notes from banks. Investors might ask a funder to take on the first 25% of the risk, but they will pony-up the remaining 75%. This 'wrap program' essentially means the funder is utilizing leverage. 75% of the invested capital is risk-free, and the premium they are receiving on their capital can be considered a form of leverage. Many non-insurance companies are coming in and leveraging these types of wrap programs, presumably because Big Insurance tends to be a slow adopter of new technology (lit fin can be thought of as such), and therefore its up to investors, banks and other non-insurance entities to innovate here (this last thought wasn't mentioned on the panel. I am merely hypothesizing...). James Batson, head of Bentham IMFs New York office, chimed in that his firm has engaged in a handful of investments where litigation finance was provided on appeal, and they secured insurance to cover a large chunk of their investment. These appellate insurance policies derive from the UK, which is perhaps to be expected, however the expectation is that US firms will soon catch on. Appellate court is a natural first step, given that the appeals process is often more predictable than going to trial, with outcomes that are closer to binary. Burgess believes that as costs come down, Big Insurance will jump on board; it's only a matter of time. And the panelists all concurred. As Stuart Grant succinctly put it: "The big takeaway here is, expect more wrap programs and insurance over the next couple of years." The emergence of insurers into the litigation funding market en-masse could greatly reduce the risk profile of the industry as a whole, and perhaps lead to more funded cases across the board (not to mention more funders emerging, with even more capital at their disposal). Of course, we're in wait-and-see mode as to whether all of this actually pans out, but it was a fascinating topic nonetheless.
Announcements Commercial

William Roberts Lawyers & LCM announce a Class Action regarding the payment of conflicted remuneration to financial advisers by Suncorp Superannuation

William Roberts Lawyers and Litigation Capital Management Limited (LCM), a leading international provider of litigation financing solutions, are working together to bring a class action against Suncorp Portfolio Service Limited (Suncorp Super), a trustee responsible for the administration of superannuation funds (Suncorp Super Funds) and part of Suncorp Group Limited. The proposed class action will be brought on behalf of members of Suncorp Super Funds to recover compensation for members whose accounts were impacted by charges used to pay conflicted remuneration to financial advisers from 1 July 2013 to date (Conflicted Charges). The class action will allege that Suncorp Super executed agreements to entrench fees that would otherwise have become unlawful or unenforceable. In doing so, the action will allege that Suncorp Super breached its duties to avoid conflicts, act with due care and diligence and act in the best interest of its members. The class action will seek compensation plus interest for affected Suncorp Super members for the Conflicted Charges. It is not proposed that any financial advisers be included in the class action. Bill Petrovski, Principal of William Roberts Lawyers, said “We have formed the view that, since 1 July 2013, Suncorp Super members have been wrongfully stripped of hard-earned monies used for the payment of commissions and other fees to financial advisers. Those monies should now be repaid.” Patrick Moloney, CEO of LCM said “LCM has a longstanding and successful track record of identifying and financing class actions that meet our rigorous due diligence criteria. We are pleased to be working alongside William Roberts Lawyers, who have significant expertise in managing class action matters, and believe this proposed class action will give members of Suncorp Super Funds the opportunity to be compensated for fees they should not have incurred.” BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOFA Reforms and conflicted remuneration From 1 July 2013, the Future of Financial Advice Reforms (FOFA Reforms) banned conflicted remuneration for financial advisors, being commissions and other payments that could reasonably influence the advice given to retail clients. Under ‘grandfathering provisions’ of the FOFA Reforms, certain commissions or other payments to be made under an arrangement entered into prior to 1 July 2013 were excepted from the ban. WHAT CAN AFFECTED SUNCORP SUPER MEMBERS DO? Those who are affected or believe may be affected can register their interest in the class action at https://www.williamroberts.com.au/Class-Actions/Suncorp-Super-Class-Action ABOUT WILLIAM ROBERTS LAWYERS William Roberts is a dynamic and innovative law firm with a focus on dispute resolution and litigation, with significant expertise in class actions. The firm has offices across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Singapore. For further information about William Roberts Lawyers please visit www.williamroberts.com.au ABOUT LCM Litigation Capital Management ("LCM") is a leading international provider of litigation financing solutions. This includes single-case and portfolio; across class actions, commercial claims, claims arising out of insolvency and international arbitration. LCM has an unparalleled track record, driven by effective project selection, active project management and robust risk management. Headquartered in Sydney, with offices in London, Singapore, Brisbane and Melbourne, LCM has been listed on AIM (part of the London Stock Exchange) since December 2018, trading under the ticker LIT. www.lcmfinance.com

CONTACTS

Bill Petrovski Principal bill.petrovski@williamroberts.com.au Phone: +61 2 9552 2111

Susanna Taylor Senior Investment Manager staylor@lcmfinance.com APAC: LCM Phone: +61 2 8098 1393

Hawthorn Advisors lcm@hawthornadvisors.com EMEA: LCM Phone: +44 (0) 20 3745 4960

LINKS

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Announcements Commercial

EY announces completion of Pangea3 Legal Managed Services acquisition

LONDON, June 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- EY today announces the closing of the acquisition of the Pangea3 Legal Managed Services (LMS) business from Thomson Reuters. Together with the recent acquisition of Riverview Law, this means that EY is the first organization with service offerings including legal function consulting, industry-leading LMS and legal technology in addition to legal advisory services where permitted, in more than 80 jurisdictions. The acquisition significantly grows the existing EY Law service offerings. With Pangea3, more than 1,100 legal project managers, services professionals and technologists join EY, bringing the total number of EY Law professionals across the globe to 3,500. The acquisition will enhance EY technology-enabled LMS in the three core areas of contract life cycle management, regulatory risk and compliance, and investigations. Kate Barton, EY Global Vice Chair – Tax, says: "Companies are looking to transform their legal departments. Cutting-edge technology, processes and the right people that can integrate legal functions into the business more holistically are key to this transformation. This acquisition deepens the EY bench of skilled resources to help companies modernize their law departments and arrive at the optimal operating model." The acquisition supports the growth of the EY LMS offerings by expanding resources and capabilities, offering legal process automation and a services model across the globe. These capabilities will also introduce measurable efficiencies and help clients transform their legal departments and deliver meaningful value to their businesses. Jeff Banta, EY Global Law Co-Leader, says: "In addition to reducing costs and driving efficiencies, legal departments recognize that the future lies in aligning closely with broader business transformation. Through the acquisition of Pangea3, EY Law services are well positioned to leverage broad professional services experience to create a consistent, market-leading offering across the globe that will shape the legal functions of the future." Renowned for its high-quality solutions and a consistent industry award winner, Pangea3 was the original pioneer in the alternative legal services space. Pangea3 has grown significantly within Thomson Reuters and has 15 years of experience, operating out of eight centers worldwide. It boasts deep technology experience, multi-lingual capabilities and a "follow-the-sun" model, which supports legal workflow and quality control. Eric Laughlin, Managing Director, Legal Managed Services, Ernst & Young LLP, says: "The EY Legal Operations service offerings now stand at the cutting-edge of enterprise legal managed service delivery, providing deep domain knowledge, process rigor and scale to guide and implement business transformation. The combination of legal function consulting and now, with Pangea3, legal managed services, will allow EY to create even more custom services to help clients tackle their most pressing challenges." Learn more about EY Legal Operations. About EY EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation is available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients. About EY Law services To facilitate that EY advice is tailored to the clients' business needs, EY Law services focus on a number of sectors: Automotive; Banking & Capital Markets; Government & Public Sector; Life Sciences; Mining & Metals; Oil & Gas; Power & Utilities; Private Equity; Real Estate; Hospitality & Construction; Technology; and Telecommunications. EY lawyers work alongside professionals from other parts of EY businesses, including Assurance, Tax, Transactions and Advisory. Serving clients across borders, the EY sector-focused, multidisciplinary approach means EY professionals offer highly integrated and pertinent advice you can trust. EY lawyers do not provide US legal services. Virginia Milazzo
EY Global Media Relations
+1 718 473 7376
virginia.milazzo@ey.com
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Announcements Commercial

Woodsford Litigation Funding announces key strategic hire and targets significant uptick in investments in 2019/20

LONDON 4 June 2019, Woodsford Litigation Funding, the global provider of litigation financing solutions for businesses, individuals and law firms, has announced further expansion of its international executive team with the appointment of Mitesh Modha to the position of Business Development & Origination Director. Mitesh, who will play a key role in Woodsford’s business development activities outside of North America, joins from Kain Knight, a costs litigation firm, where he was a Director. Woodford’s business development team now spans the globe, with people in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, London, Tel Aviv, Singapore and Brisbane. “Our business continues to grow and succeed because we have a winning combination of high quality capital and high quality professionals. Particularly following last year’s injection of significant further capital by our shareholders, Mitesh and other new recruits help complete the ingredients for a successful litigation finance business” said Steven Friel, Woodsford’s CEO. Woodsford’s new Business Development & Origination Director, Mitesh Modha commented, “It’s exciting to be joining one of the world’s leading litigation funders at a time when it is growing so quickly. I am really looking forward to playing my part in taking Woodsford to the next level.” About Woodsford Litigation Funding Founded in 2010 and with offices in London, Philadelphia, Singapore and Tel Aviv, Woodsford Litigation Funding provides tailored litigation financing solutions for businesses, individuals, and law firms. This includes both single case and portfolio litigation funding and arbitration funding. Woodsford’s Executive team blends extensive business experience with world-class legal expertise. Woodsford is a founder member of the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales. Woodsford is currently recruiting for a number of other posts, including a Senior Investment Officer (London), Commercial Manager (London or Philadelphia) and Business Development Manager (Singapore).
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Commercial

Harbour Litigation Funding Backs Customer Class Action Against AMP

AMP, the Aussie financial giant which is facing a massive shareholder class action being led by law firm Maurice Blackburn on a no win, no fee basis, is facing a second class action - this one on behalf of customers. The action is again being led by Maurice Blackburn, this time funded by Harbour Litigation Funding. As reported in ABC News, the action alleges that AMP routinely overcharged its 2.5 million customer base on administration fees, dating all the way back to 2013. In some cases, the investment firm allegedly charged 1.5% in fees when it was contractually obligated to charge .5%. AMP is facing a shareholder class action in the wake of its massive stock price drop, in addition to a lawsuit by the Australian Securities and Exchange Commission. Key executives are also facing a criminal probe into a separate matter of 'fee for no service.' The customer claim is being brought by Maurice Blackburn and is funded by Harbour Litigation Funding. Harbour is set to receive 20% on any payout up to $125MM, and 10% on any number over that threshold.