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McDonald Hopkins’ new Litigation Finance Practice Group is one of the first of its kind and unique to the legal market

CLEVELANDApril 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- McDonald Hopkins LLC has announced the creation of a practice group dedicated to the relatively new and exciting phenomenon of litigation finance. The firm's Litigation Finance Practice Group is one of the first of its kind and is unique in the legal market. Litigation finance enables plaintiffs and law firms to use the "value" of causes of action in affirmative litigation or arbitration proceedings to secure funding from third party "litigation funders" by monetizing potential recoveries from litigation. The litigation finance industry is relatively new to the United States, and it is growing rapidly. Litigation funders are expanding in size and growing in number. In the last several years, many of the industry's early entrants have expanded their footprint and attracted additional capital while new litigation funders have entered the U.S. market. At the same time, law firms and litigants are becoming more familiar with litigation finance and more comfortable using it. McDonald Hopkins' Litigation Finance Practice Group will be co-chaired by members Jim Giszczak and Marc Carmel. Giszczak is chair of the firm's Litigation Department and serves on McDonald Hopkins' board of directors and executive committee. Carmel works in the Business Restructuring Services Department. Before joining McDonald Hopkins, he worked at one of the largest United States based litigation funders as director and leader of its involvement in the bankruptcy and restructuring sector. "We are excited to announce the creation of McDonald Hopkins' Litigation Finance Group," said Giszczak. "The group capitalizes on the experience of McDonald Hopkins' lawyers in the litigation finance industry and in commercial litigation." "We see litigation finance as a natural fit for the firm for several reasons," said Carmel. "First, our attorneys are collaborative. This is particularly helpful with litigation finance because we bring together attorneys with several different proficiencies to help our clients. Second is the breadth of the firm's litigation experience. McDonald Hopkins'attorneys have extensive backgrounds in the areas of law in which litigation funders seek to invest. Third is the firm's entrepreneurial spirit. And maybe most importantly, the rare experience we have in how litigation finance works. We have attorneys who have represented clients who have sought out and secured litigation funding, and we have represented litigation funders in helping them perform due diligence." The Litigation Finance Practice Group includes members from the firm's Litigation Department, Intellectual Property Department, and Business Restructuring Services Department. McDonald Hopkins will represent plaintiffs who are seeking litigation funding for individual cases and portfolios of cases and law firms who are seeking litigation funding for portfolio cases. Plaintiffs can be businesses of all sizes, including small, middle market and Fortune 500 companies. The firm will also represent litigation funders who are seeking assistance with due diligence as they evaluate potential investments. About McDonald Hopkins Founded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in ChicagoClevelandColumbusDetroitMiami, and West Palm Beach. With more than 50 service and industry teams, the firm has the expertise and knowledge to meet the growing number of legal and business challenges our clients face. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit mcdonaldhopkins.com. CONTACT:  
David Carducci  
McDonald Hopkins LLC  
600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100  
Cleveland, Ohio 44114  
Phone: 216.348.5814  
Email: dcarducci@mcdonaldhopkins.com

Longford Capital Expands Geographic Presence to Dallas; Hires Top Local Talent

CHICAGO-- Longford Capital today announced the opening of its office in Dallas, Texas, and has recruited a senior litigator and trial lawyer to head the expansion.

John E. Garda has joined Longford Capital as Managing Director and Head of the Dallas Office. Immediately before joining Longford Capital, Mr. Garda was the Managing Partner of the Dallas office of K&L Gates, a Global 20 law firm, and served on the firm’s Advisory Council. Throughout his 25-year career practicing law, Mr. Garda focused his practice on representing companies involved in complex commercial litigation and disputes.

Mr. Garda represented clients in complex commercial litigation, securities litigation, insolvency litigation, and business disputes involving a variety of industries including health care, real estate, technology and outsourcing and consumer products. He has appeared before state and federal trial courts, state and federal appellate courts, arbitration associations, and administrative boards around the nation. Mr. Garda served as legal advisor to several corporate Board of Directors and Board Committees. Mr. Garda also represented clients in corporate governance matters, SEC investigations, and other internal investigations.

Mr. Garda earned a B.A from the University of Delaware and his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School where he distinguished himself as the Managing Editor of the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy. Before attending law school, Mr. Garda practiced as a Certified Public Accountant with the public accounting firm now known as Ernst & Young in New York.

“For many years, Longford Capital has collaborated with leading law firms in Texas,” said William P. Farrell, Jr., co-founder and managing director of Longford Capital. “Some of our most successful investments have involved Texas companies. And, the legal market in Dallas has been thriving for several years. Many of our trusted law firm partners have expanded into Dallas. The launch of our Dallas office is a natural progression of the great relationships and success that we have enjoyed in Texas. It was critical, however, for us to recruit John Garda to join us.”

“John possesses the skill and experience that we value most at Longford Capital,” said Mr. Farrell. “He has run the Dallas office for K&L Gates since 2015 and has been a part of firm-wide management of one of the largest law firms in the world. His contacts within the business community and legal community in Dallas and nationally are second to none. And, he knows our business, having served as an Independent Advisor to Longford Capital for almost five years. Longford Capital expects that the Texas legal and business communities will continue to be valued partners of Longford Capital.”

“K&L Gates has an outstanding globally integrated platform filled with tremendous lawyers that provide top-notch client service,” said Mr. Garda. “As part of my incredible experience at the firm, I have had the privilege to assist with its management and operations for the past several years; my partners and I have also had the privilege of representing Longford Capital in connection with the evaluation of several investment opportunities.”

“Through this process, my partners and I have been able to really get to know Longford Capital and its team of professionals,” said Mr. Garda. “Through our working experience, it became obvious to me that Longford Capital is the gold standard in the commercial litigation funding industry. I am honored to be joining Longford Capital and very excited to open the Dallas office for this industry-leading organization.”

About Longford Capital

Longford Capital is a leading private investment company that provides capital solutions to leading law firms, public and private companies, universities, government agencies, and other entities involved in large-scale, commercial legal disputes. Typically, Longford Capital funds attorneys' fees and other costs necessary to pursue meritorious legal claims in return for a share of a favorable settlement or award. The firm manages a diversified portfolio and considers investments in subject matter areas where it has developed considerable expertise, including, business-to-business contract claims, antitrust and trade regulation claims, intellectual property claims (including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret), fiduciary duty claims, fraud claims, claims in bankruptcy and liquidation, domestic and international arbitrations and a variety of others.

Defense-Side Funding: Why Half the Market Remains Untapped

Litigation funding is now firmly entrenched in the Legal Services market - or more accurately, half the Legal Services market. While plaintiff-side funding is all the rage, defense-side funding is another matter entirely. Because there typically isn't a monetary reward at the end of a successful defense, funding such matters requires a creative workaround. As reported in The National Law Review, litigation funders and plaintiff-side claimants each benefit in a symbiotic relationship. One provides the asset, the other essentially underwrites it. In defense-side funding, however, there are no 'winnings.' A successful defense generally means 'not losing.' So how can such cases get funded? One way is for law firms or corporates to bundle their defense and plaintiff-side claims together. Funders would finance the entire portfolio, and take a higher return on the plaintiff-side claims than they otherwise would had they been funded individually. Another option is for a claimant to redefine success in a defense-side claim as a settlement or award that is below a certain threshold. Say a company is being sued for $100MM. The company might determine a successful defense is one where they are forced to pay $25MM or less. A funder could fund that defense-side claim, and take a multiple of their investment should the claim prove "successful."

IMF Bentham teams with Boies Schiller Flexner to provide US$30M capital and legal representation to parties with Vietnamese cross-border disputes

16 APRIL 2019:  Leading international dispute financier, IMF Bentham Limited (ASX:IMF) and renowned global litigation and arbitration firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP (BSF) announce a collaboration to provide up to US$30 million in funding capital for cross-border disputes with a Vietnamese connection. This world-first collaboration combines IMF Bentham’s financial support with BSF’s unmatched legal and Vietnam expertise to benefit foreign investors or Vietnamese businesses in Vietnam-related disputes, including international arbitration or US/UK litigation.
Why Vietnam? Vietnam is poised to become Asia’s next economic powerhouse. It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and a population approaching 100 million. It is also attracting record foreign investments in major infrastructure, manufacturing, real estate, and energy projects. Leading local businesses are also beginning to expand their operations abroad. When disputes arise, they typically involve multi-national parties and multi-jurisdictional proceedings. These disputes are complex and costly, and they require legal representation with a mix of local, regional and international expertise. Very few international players offer such expertise or the flexible sources of dispute finance that litigation funding offers.  Until now. What does the IMF-BSF arrangement mean for clients? Together, IMF and BSF bring the capital and know-how required to pursue complex and high stakes Vietnam related claims. The arrangement brings clients:
  • fast and streamlined funding assessment (within 4 weeks)
  • legal representation by one of the world’s leading trial and arbitration law firms with unique Vietnam expertise
  • risk-free recoveries (neither BSF nor IMF Bentham recover any costs unless the claim is successful)
How will the arrangement work? IMF will fund preliminary investigations into potential claims and also subsidize BSF’s legal fees and external expenses (e.g., expert witnesses) for claims that proceed. Funding arrangements will be tailored for each specific case. IMF’s Chief Investment Officer (Asia), Tom Glasgow, said: IMF and BSF have had a strong working relationship on funded matters, and our US division successfully funded a matter with Mr Tran that resolved in 2016. Our new arrangement with BSF responds to increasing demand for legal representation in cross-border disputes involving Vietnamese parties and assets. It also reflects the growing appetite for third-party finance as a tool for resolving disputes in Asia.” Luan Tran, Partner at BSF said: “I lead a unique practice which combines the Vietnamese perspective (jurisdictional know-how, local contacts and language) with BSF’s global disputes expertise.  I recently lived and worked in Vietnam and Asia and regularly travel for work there. I have an intimate knowledge of the market. This collaboration with IMF allows foreign investors doing business in Vietnam, as well as Vietnamese companies doing business internationally, to pursue cases prosecuted by a leading law firm that previously might have been beyond reach for cost reasons.”  Quyen Ta, Partner at BSF said: “I have represented the top companies based in Asia and the United States in their highest-stakes intellectual property, class action, and trade secrets disputes—whether in state or federal courts, or in international arbitrations.  Clients appreciate that they can come to BSF for their Southeast Asian disputes, be able to retain experienced trial lawyers like me and Luan who are culturally and linguistically competent, and have access to a reputable litigation funding source.”

ABOUT IMF BENTHAM IMF is one of the leading global litigation funders, headquartered in Australia and with offices in the US, Singapore, Canada, Hong Kong and the UK. IMF has built its reputation as a trusted provider of innovative litigation funding solutions and has established an increasingly diverse portfolio of litigation funding assets.

IMF has a highly experienced litigation funding team overseeing its investments. We have a 90% success rate over 184 completed investments and have recovered over A$1.4 billion for clients since 2001.

For further information please see Tom Glasgow and www.imf.com.au. As Chief Investment Officer (Asia), Tom Glasgow leads the Asian investment activities and business expansion for IMF Bentham. Prior to joining IMF Bentham, Tom was a senior member of market leading international arbitration and disputes practice in Asia, where he handled complex multi-jurisdictional commercial matters for leading global businesses across a range of sectors.

ABOUT BOIES SCHILLER FLEXNER

Boies Schiller Flexner is a firm of internationally recognized trial lawyers, crisis managers and strategic advisors known for their creative, aggressive and efficient pursuit of success for the firm’s clients. The firm has an established record of taking on and winning complex, ground-breaking and cross-border matters in diverse circumstances and industries for many of the world’s most sophisticated companies. The firm has 15 offices located throughout the United States and in London. It is also the only AmLaw firm with two Vietnamese-speaking partners with extensive first-chair trial and arbitration experience.

For further information please see Luan TranQuyen Ta and Boies Schiller Flexner.

Luan Tran has more than 20 years of experience in international arbitration. He has handled, both as counsel and arbitrator, some of the most significant Vietnam-related international arbitration matters. He co-authored the Vietnam chapter for two major international publications. Prior to BSF, Luan was an international arbitration partner at a prominent Vietnam-based law firm. He was also an early member of the international arbitration practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. He is currently a member of the AAA-ICDR’s Council and Asia Advisory Committee.He has three law degrees, including one from Harvard Law School. Quyen Ta co-leads Boies Schiller Flexner’s Bay Area practice. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law and is a highly sought-after trial lawyer who has more than 15 years of experience litigating high-stakes disputes in the United States and in international arbitrations. Her practice has included representing top Asian-based companies, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, in its most sensitive cross-border matters, and which has included litigating jurisdictional issues throughout the United States. Her current clients include top Fortune companies, as well as Asian-based companies such as VNG Corporation (Vietnam) and Rakuten (Japan).

Journalist Seeks Litigation Funding in Al Jazeera / Muslim Brotherhood Case

Journalist Peter Greste, formerly of Al Jazeera's Egyptian bureau, was imprisoned by the Egyptian government for coordinating with The Muslim Brotherhood, a group branded a terrorist organization  by Egyptian authorities. After spending 400 days in prison and then being deported to Australia, Greste is now seeking litigation funding for a lawsuit against Al Jazeera, his former employer, whom he says lied to him about their relationship with The Muslim Brotherhood and caused him to be incarcerated in Egypt. As reported in Ahram Online, Greste, along with two other members of Al Jazeera's Egyptian bureau, were imprisoned for seven years for being members of The Muslim Brotherhood and fabricating news stories which supported the terrorist group's agenda. The Muslim Brotherhood briefly controlled the Egyptian government, before a coup by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overthrew the regime, imprisoning its leaders and declaring them a terrorist organization. Al Jazeera, the Qatari state-owned media outlet, had a cozy relationship with The Muslim Brotherhood. Greste claims he had no knowledge of Al Jazeera's links to the organization, and now intends to sue the news organization for negligence which resulted in his incarceration by Egyptian authorities. Greste is seeking $1MM in litigation funding to support his legal claim, which he intends to file from Australia, where he is currently residing after having been deported by Egyptian authorities a little over a year into his sever-year sentence. In March 2018, 18 members of the house of representatives, along with Senator Ted ‎Cruz, issued a letter to the US Attorney General ‎calling for Al Jazeera to be labelled a “foreign agent." Currently, the government of Qatar is under pressure by neighboring Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE to shut down Al Jazeera, which they claim supports and promotes terrorism.
The LFJ Podcast
Hosted By Yasmin Mohammad |
On this episode of The Litigation Finance Podcast, we sat down with Yasmin Mohammad to discuss international arbitration, specifically the role that arbitral institutions are playing as relates to litigation funding. We also discussed the rise of litigation funding in the Middle East, and why jurisdictions like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are now starting to welcome funding with open arms. [podcast_episode episode="3727" content="title,player,details"]

Financial Poise™ Announces “Three Case Studies,” a New Webinar Premiering May 8th at 3:00 PM CST through West LegalEdcenter™

This webinar is co-produced by West LegalEdCenter™ and part of the "Commercial Litigation Funding 101" series. It will feature Jeremy Waitzman (Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger LLP); Evan Fried (Greybridge Capital LLC); Ken Epstein (Bentham IMF); and Joel Cohen (Stout). As the legal funding market evolves, so too do the legal/ethical jurisprudence, strategic decisions inherent in utilizing funding, financial instruments used for funding, and nature of funder/funded relationship. In this webinar, a panel of experienced litigation funding professionals examine three live legal funding deals, and discuss how they impact considerations of (i) disclosure of litigation funding, (ii) fee-splitting and non-attorney ownership of law firms, and (iii) financial engineering of innovative funding deals. To learn more, click here. The webinar will be available on-demand after its premiere. As with every Financial Poise Webinar, it will be an engaging and plain English conversation designed to entertain as it teaches. About Financial Poise – Financial Poise has one mission: to provide reliable plain English business, financial and legal education to investors, private business owners and executives, and their respective trusted advisors. Financial Poise content is created by seasoned, respected experts who are invited to join our Faculty only after being recommended by current Faculty Members. Our editorial staff then works to make sure all content is easily digestible. Financial Poise is a meritocracy; nobody can "buy" their way into the Financial Poise Faculty. Start learning today at https://www.financialpoise.com/

SPONSORED POST: Segue Cloud Services Multi-Funding Case Study

The Following sponsored post was contributed by Segue Cloud Services. The Challenge Multi Funding USA is a pre-settlement finance provider that serves attorneys and their plaintiffs. The company has been serving clients for nearly a decade, providing millions of dollars in financial support in jurisdictions like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Texas, California, Florida, and Washington. Through its pre-settlement funding services, plaintiffs can access much needed funds during the often lengthy settlement process as they wait for their cases to be resolved. When a case concludes in favor of the plaintiff, Multi Funding recoups its investment at a preferred rate of return. Managing the pre-settlement finance process can be labor-intensive, complex, and expensive. It involves an array of ongoing administrative tasks, from initial case intake, to underwriting and approvals, to managing contracts and case documents, to the regular tracking of case developments. And all key stakeholders need to be apprised of each occurrence as it unfolds. Like most providers, Multi Funding had relied on staff members to manage all the workflows and processes associated with pre-settlement funding. This meant manually inputting all case data into spreadsheets, completing forms, generating documents and reports, and notifying the parties involved whenever a milestone or change in dispensation occurred. And when a change occurs—as is usually the case—much of the entire process has to be repeated. As a result, Multi Funding’s team devoted countless hours to updating records and changing data, causing added expense and creating the potential for unnecessary errors in the process. “The amount of time and work required to usher a pre-settlement funding case from intake to settlement can be overwhelming. It can often take four days just to manually underwrite a funding application,” said Alex Reyes, customer service specialist, of Multi Funding. “Every time we have to manually change or update information, it can result in delays and increases the potential for human error, which can quickly steamroll into problems for our clients.” As Multi-Funding handled more funding requests, it recognized that it required a more efficient way to track, manage, and organize the painstaking pre-settlement process. The Solution After doing some research on potential technology providers, Multi Funding contacted Segue Cloud Solutions, an innovative software company that developed a technology platform specifically for the pre-settlement process. The solution to enables legal finance providers to enhance productivity, streamline daily workflows, reduce costs, and speed time-to-market. Multi Funding consulted with Jack Closs, project supervisor at Segue. “When we spoke with Multi Funding’s administrators, it was clear that our solution could deliver a range of efficiencies to expedite their existing processes, diminish their labor requirements, and drastically reduce the potential for human error,” said Closs. “Their spreadsheets were cumbersome and prohibitive, making it difficult for staff members to retrieve the case information they needed at any given moment. Our automation software would allow them to easily track and access everything from settlement milestones, to interim pay-off amounts, to correspondence with funding sources and changes in case dispensation, all from a single, intuitive interface.” Segue’s secure, robust platform automatically retrieves data to populate online forms and other documentation, generating material specific to each individual client according to established rules and permissions. The software automatically notifies staff, attorneys, paralegals, and clients of changes in status at various stages of a case. It organizes and centralizes all contact information, pay-off details, and case data, and generates documents such as contracts, letters, and reports with a click of a mouse. The solution is built on the industry-leading Salesforce CRM platform, making it easy to deploy in Multi Funding’s existing environment. In addition, the platform’s document generation capabilities are powered by Conga, a major provider of digital document management. The Outcome Multi Funding USA has processed thousands of loans through the platform. Through this solution, they’ve been able to increase productivity by some 15 percent, while mitigating costly mistakes. In addition, the solution has reduced the firm’s cost of operations, decreasing labor requirements and helping to speed more cases through their paces—without having to add personnel or extraneous infrastructure. And since Multi Funding accesses Segue’s technology through a cost-effective subscription with no per-transaction fees, return on investment is swift and considerable. “In a complicated environment like ours, Segue provides a much more efficient solution compared to manual administration. Underwriting processes that once took hours or days can now be turned over in about eight minutes,” confirmed Reyes. “Before we used Segue, we’d frequently tell clients we’d have a contract to them by the next week. Now we can produce all the documentation in less than an hour.” When asked about the value of the Segue pre-settlement funding solution, Multi Funding says it transcends traditional cost and organizational savings. “The ability to have an extensive range of automatically updated case information readily accessible throughout the pre-settlement process is a huge advantage,” concluded Reyes. “It creates an instant competitive edge for our firm by enabling us to provide fast and efficient service to our clients.”

Dalma Capital CEO Labels Litigation Funding the “Most Attractive” Asset Class

Zachary Cefaratti, the CEO of Dubai-based Dalma Capital is classifying litigation funding as "the most attractive asset class we've seen." Cefaratti loves the risk/return profile, coupled with the relatively short lifecycle of the investment. As reported in Zawya, Cefaratti was speaking on a panel at an AIM summit for alternative investors when he lauded the industry, and went on to say that he predicts the market size will double over the next five years, thanks to its structure as a non-correlated asset. Cefaratti asserted that the funding market is negatively correlated with economic downturns which would imply that the industry will see a spike in activity post-recession. That is what took place in the wake of The Great Recession, but there were far fewer funders in play back then. It remains to be seen if the same will occur the next time around. According to Cefaratti, the total addressable market (TAM) for litigation funding is around $100-$150B, but there's only around $10B in funding currently being deployed. With a turnover period of 2-4 years, that means only 5% of TAM is being funded at best.