In a post on LinkedIn, Steven Friel, CEO at Woodsford, announced that the second edition of The Law and Business of Litigation Finance has been published by Bloomsbury Professional. The book is a holistic overview of the litigation finance industry and provides a guide to everything from how funders raise capital, to the key legal issues that are faced by those involved in third-party legal funding.

According to Bloomsbury’s listing, the new edition includes additional content on:

• The commercial and finance aspects of litigation funding, including insight into the different stakeholders involved
• Litigation finance in specific jurisdictions including Australia, continental Europe, Singapore, and Hong Kong
• Updates on case law based on new high profile cases in the UK, USA and Australia, and developments in legislation and regulatory measures in those jurisdictions.

As the editor of the book, Friel also thanked all the contributors to the second edition which include: Abdur-Razzaq A., David Capper, Tony Sebok, Helena Clarke, Emily Duffy, Evan Fried, Josh Goodman, Samantha Hewitt, Alex Hickson, Ari Jaffess, Gina Kim, Riley King, Zachary Krug, Michael Lange, Richard Leedham, Alex Lempiner, David G. Liston, Walter Mansfield, John Middlemass, Charlie Morris, Ravi Nayer, Alex Patchen, Lucy Pert, Eric Schuller, Neill Shrimpton, David Siffert, Mark Spiteri, Ben Summerfield, Christian Toms, David T.Joe Tyler, Simon Walsh, Chloe Hanson.

The book is available to pre-order through Bloomsbury’s website, and is scheduled to be released later this week on 13 June.

In a post on LinkedIn, The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia (ALFA) announced it will be hosting a conference on class actions in Australia, with the half-day event set to take place on the afternoon of 11 July in Sydney. The conference will be bookended by two keynote addresses, with the first delivered by the Hon. Justice Nichols from the Supreme Court of Victoria, and the second by Professor Michael Legg from the faculty of law at UNSW.

The core of the event will be comprised of three panel discussions which will respectively cover the global litigation insurance market, securities and consumer class actions, and best practice for competing claims and consolidation. Speakers across these panels include senior figures from industry leading companies such as Balance Legal Capital, CASL, Herbert Smith Freehills, Litica, and Piper Alderman.

For further detail about the conference and to register your attendance, visit the event websites for in-person and virtual attendees.

When looking at legislative and regulatory developments impacting litigation funders, we must commonly look at those measures specifically targeting third-party funding around issues such as disclosure and transparency. However, a proposition being brought forward in Nevada to limit contingency fees is being highlighted as a rule change that may benefit funders who will be able to take advantage of smaller law firms’ need for capital.

Reporting by Legal Newsline looks at a proposed law change in Nevada which would cap lawyer contingency fees at 20%, with legal analysts expressing concerns about the effect this might have on the state’s litigation regime. Proposition 22 has garnered huge support from Uber, with the rideshare company having spent $4 million in lobbying to back the rule change through the Nevadans for Fair Recovery group. However, the measure is seeing equal opposition by the state’s trial lawyers who have formed the campaign group, Uber Sexual Assault Survivors for Legal Accountability.

The article explains that it is Nevada’s business community who are stuck in the middle of this debate, with concerns that this 20% cap could increase the power and influence of third-party litigation funders in the state. Samir Parikh, professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, explained that Proposition 22 could benefit funders who support upstart “hungry law firms” and would need the third-party funding in place of higher returns from contingency fees.

The role of third-party funding in the Post Office case triggered a variety of responses from legal industry professionals and outside observers in the UK, with its utility as a tool for access to justice being weighed against the idea that claimants are not receiving sufficient proportions of compensation compared to funders. A recent panel discussion at a leading industry event has highlighted these competing ideas, and how funding has entered the legal ‘mainstream’ after a sustained period of increasing adoption.

An article by CDR provides a recap of discussions held at the London International Disputes Week (LIDW) conference, offering particular insight into a panel on ‘Emerging Trends and Public Perceptions in Class Actions, Funding and Corporate Accountability’. The panel discussion saw contributions from Tim West, partner at Ashurst, Simon Pugh, partner at Portland Communications, Lorraine Lanceley, partner at Stewarts, and Andrew Mizner, editor at CDR.

The panel explored the growing influence of litigation funding in UK class actions, noting that the increased public profile of third-party funders had attracted mixed reactions from industry participants and the wider public. Pugh suggested that, at the moment, “the public perceives lawyers and funders as the principal beneficiaries of the regime,” and that “the onus has to be on the funders to explain the difference between cost versus profit, and accounting for their risk.”

West concurred with this idea that there was scepticism and concern directed towards funders from those observing the way compensation from class actions has been distributed. On the other hand, Lanceley noted that despite these questions of perception, it is clear that litigation funding has become part of the ‘mainstream’ in UK class actions, and that this is reflected in the number of clients who are proactively looking for funding to support their claims.

An article in Iberian Lawyer covers the announcement of PLA Litigation Funding’s appointment of Alipio Conde Herrero as a director at the company. Before PLA, Conde most recently served as Head of Legal Advisory at Bankinter, where he served for over 17 years and ‘showcased his ability to navigate complex legal matters and provide strategic counsel at the highest level.’

Commenting on the appointment, Jesús Rodrigo Lavilla, CEO of PLA Litigation Funding said: “We are thrilled to welcome Alipio to our team. His extensive experience and industry knowledge will undoubtedly strengthen our organization and further our commitment to providing top-tier legal services to our clients.”

Whilst funders operating in the UK may be waiting until after July 4 to see how the next government will approach the litigation finance industry, this does not seem to have dissuaded the appetite for funding high value class actions being brought in this jurisdiction.

An article in City A.M. covers the announcement of the UK’s ‘biggest ever’ class action case, as Willkie Farr & Gallagher has filed a claim on behalf of the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) against Amazon. The claim, which has been filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), focuses on allegations Amazon misused the data of its marketplace’s retailers and manipulated the ‘Amazon Buy Box’ feature for its own financial benefit over the interests of these retailers.

The claim is being funded by Litigation Capital Management, with the total value of the class action estimated to be worth up to £1 billion. Willkie Farr will reportedly be submitting over 1,150 pages of documents to support the allegations being made in the claim.

BIRA’s Chief Executive Andrew Goodacre provided the following statement:

“The filing of the claim today is the first step towards retailers obtaining compensation for what Amazon has done. I am confident that the CAT will authorise the claim to go forward, and I look forward to the opportunity to present the case on behalf of UK retailers. This is a watershed moment for UK retailers, but especially for small independent retailers in this country.”