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Announcements Commercial

Litigation Capital Management (AIM:LIT) announces funding of corporate portfolio transaction

Litigation Capital Management Limited (AIM:LIT) (LCM), a leading international provider of litigation financing solutions, announces it has signed an agreement to fund a corporate portfolio transaction with a leading global aviation business.

The global aviation business portfolio transaction will:

  • fund 38 worldwide disputes and contractual claims arising from the operations of the corporate;
  • be for an initial five-year rolling period with optionality to extend the number of cases and the size of finance available; and
  • be the second corporate portfolio transaction funded by LCM and the first originating from the global cooperation agreement announced by the Company on 25 March 2019.

LCM remains one of very few litigation funders globally to have executed corporate portfolio transactions and the only one in the industry actively originating and executing these types of transactions. This type of investment remains an area of focus and growth for the Company. The current pipeline includes a further eight corporate portfolio transactions. The Company intends to make further announcements in the future as and when further agreements are signed.

Commenting on the new corporate portfolio transaction, Patrick Moloney, Chief Executive Officer of LCM, said:

 “We are delighted to be announcing our second corporate portfolio transaction and the first originating from our global cooperation agreement with a leading international law firm. This clearly demonstrates the positive and mutually beneficial nature of the agreement and our ability to generate business through our network of trusted partners.

LCM possesses one of the most experienced teams at originating and executing global corporate portfolio transactions and we will continue to focus on providing litigation financing solutions to corporate clients. This is a key growth area for LCM and a point of differentiation for us, especially given the highly skilled and experienced team we have in London, led by Nick Rowles-Davies.”

Nick Rowles-Davies, Executive Vice Chairman of LCM, said:

“This global funding deal for an aviation business demonstrates our ability to convert corporate portfolio transactions and is exactly the strategy we outlined at the time of our listing in London in December 2018. Aviation is one of many sectors that will benefit from corporate portfolio funding, the continued awareness of legal financing solutions and how legal financing can minimise risk for corporates across sectors. Our pipeline includes eight further corporate portfolio projects across various sectors and we continue to refine our knowledge and experience while contributing to LCM’s future growth. 

We have refined and developed a strategy to originate business through targeted partnerships. This corporate portfolio transaction is a positive endorsement of how we conduct our business generation and the relationship we have developed under the global cooperation agreement with a leading international law firm.”

About LCM

Litigation Capital Management (“LCM”) is a leading international provider of litigation financing solutions. This includes single-case and portfolios 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 since December 2018, trading under the ticker LIT. www.lcmfinance.com

Consumer Special Features

Why is There an Assault on the Poorest Amongst Us?

This article was contributed by Eric Schuller, President of the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC). “Millions of Americans Are Just 1 Paycheck Away From ‘Financial Disaster’” was the title in a recent story in Barron’s. The article stated that 51% of working adults in the US would need to access savings to cover necessities if they missed more than one paycheck. That is the equivalent of over 78.2 million Americans. The story went on to state that “roughly two-thirds of households earning less than $30,000 annually and Hispanic households would not be able to cover basic living expenses.” That is the equivalent of over 101.2 million Americans. Consumer Legal Funding is a vital resource for those very Americans. Funding allows the 101.2 million Americans who cannot cover basic living expenses to bridge that gap while their legal claims make their way through the system. With some cases taking several months – if not years – to settle, these Americans need help today. Consumer Legal Funding allows them to pay their mortgages, put food on their tables and keep a roof over their heads while the Insurance industry slow-walks their legal claims. Perhaps the most chilling revelation here is that the Insurance industry, led by the US Chamber of Commerce, supported legislation to eliminate Consumer Legal Funding in two of the top-10 poorest states in the country: first in Arkansas, where 15.4% of the population lives in poverty, and just last week in West Virginia, where the poverty rate is 17.7%. What is even more striking, is that those are two of the top-10 hungriest states in the US. In West Virginia, 14.9% of the population goes hungry, and in Arkansas the rate is 17.4%. The elimination of Consumer Legal Funding in these two states was implemented merely to increase Insurance industry profits, and force consumers to accept lowball offers (as an aside: State Farm ended 2018 with a net worth of over $100 Billion). Thanks to the latest legislation that went into effect on June 5, 2019 in West Virginia, residents who need Consumer Legal Funding assistance will no longer be able to access it. Take for example, Patressa from Barboursville, WV, who said: “I am completely broke financially due to a car accident. I have medical needs and doctor appointments that I need to go to.” Now Patressa is among the 1.8 million residents of West Virginia who no longer have access to alternative funds while their cases are pending in the legal system. As a result, Patressa will be forced to accept an offer for less than what she deserves. One of the most heartbreaking responses to the recent legislation comes from Victoria of Clarksburg, WV, who stated quite candidly that she “needed the money so I could have a place to live.” Who can the 4.8 million Patressa’s and Victoria’s of West Virginia and Arkansas turn to for help? How will they meet their medical needs? How will they find a place to live? Eric Schuller President Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC)
The LFJ Podcast
Hosted By Peter Petyt |
In this episode, we sat down with Peter Petyt of UK-based litigation funding brokerage and advisory service 4 Rivers. Peter explains his role in originating deals and managing relationships between funders, law firms and claimants. He also outlines his company's partnership with data analytics firm Premonition, as well as his thoughts on the impact of Brexit on the UK funding landscape. [podcast_episode episode="3980" content="title,player,details"]
Commercial

Litigation Fund Provides Rosenblatt With Greater Flexibility

UK law firm Rosenblatt went public last year, and in the process announced plans to open a litigation funding arm. The law firm now has five cases under consideration, and CEO Nicola Foulston touts her firm's litigation fund with providing increased flexibility when designing alternative fee arrangements. As reported in This is Money, Foulston is attempting to leverage the relaxed rules around ownership of law firms in the UK. Since 2007, law firms have been allowed to list publicly, and Foulston believes that equity-based PLC structures are the future of the law firm industry. She is also betting heavily on litigation funding, setting up a dedicated funding arm with a portion of the capital raised during the IPO. Rosenblatt can now afford to be selective on the types of cases it accepts. The law firm can work on a no-win, no-fee basis, or fully or partially fund the claims themselves via their dedicated funding arm. Foulston is also looking to expand into other niche areas of the law, including taxation, forensic accounting and financial crime. The law firm still carries a majority of the £13MM it raised during its IPO, and is expected to sharply deploy capital in the near-term to fuel Foulston's growth ambitions.
Announcements Commercial

Commercial Litigation Crowdfunding Platform, AxiaFunder and Solomonic litigation analytics, partner to deliver a new generation of financing decision-making

Commercial Litigation Crowdfunding Platform, Axiafunder and Solomonic litigation analytics have agreed a partnership where Solomonic will provide AxiaFunder with the statistical data to support their case evaluation and due diligence Workflows. Cormac Leech, founder and CEO of AxiaFunder said, “for us moving to a process for determining funding that is based on rigorous data is critical to our business model and Solomonic’s data and analysis in unrivalled in the UK market.” He added, “Our goal is to transform litigation funding by introducing a wider group of sophisticated investors to litigation assets that traditionally haven’t been funded in this way. To do that we have to have more dynamic case evaluation supported by data, rather than relying solely on the traditional approaches still in use in the sector. “ AxiaFunder adopts a comprehensive, six-part review in selecting cases eligible for funding by investors, with the prospects for success fundamental to the decision. AxiaFunder will use Solomonic’s robust and extensive Commercial data set and outcome calculators to help determine relevant base rates for the claim type both to inform the review and as part of their due diligence before any claim is promoted to potential investors. Gideon Cohen, Solomonic co-founder commented: “we are delighted to be partnering with AxiaFunder. Their approach is transformational and because our data is so rigorous and brings so much additional value, will make a meaningful contribution to the proposition they offer to investors in litigation financing.
Commercial

Lawdragon Recognizes Andrew Saker and Allison Chock of IMF Bentham

Lawdragon, a provider of free online guides for US-based legal news, has named IMF Bentham CEO Andrew Saker and Bentham IMF (the US subsidiary of IMF Bentham) CIO Allison Chock as two of its 100 Leading Legal Consultants and Strategists. As reported in Lawdragon, IMF Bentham has been featured in the online guide each of the last four consecutive years. The funder maintains 14 offices across Australia, Asia, Canada, the UK and the US, and manages billions of dollars of AUM. Having helped pioneer litigation funding in Australia in 2001, IMF Bentham expanded into the US a decade later, and now boasts multiple offices across the country and in Canada. The funder is also one of just a handful of industry participants that is publicly-traded. In his interview with Lawdragon, Saker highlighted IMFs capital resources, strategic case insights and assistance with project execution as its core differentiators. He also highlighted the experienced former litigators and in-house counsel who serve as employees of the firm. Over an 18 year lifespan, IMF boasts a 90% success rate in the claims it finances. According to Saker, IMF clients have retained an average rate of 62% of all proceeds.
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.