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The LFJ Podcast
Hosted By Michael German |
In this episode, we speak with Michael German of Vannin Capital about the issue of disclosure. With the recent GOP Senators' push to re-introduce legislation that would mandate disclosure of all third party-funded agreements in class action cases and MDLs, disclosure is on the forefront of all industry participants' minds. Michael recently penned an article suggesting a compromise on the issue: that being mandated limited disclosure in all third party-funded cases, with excess disclosure expressly prohibited. Michael explains his reasoning on the podcast. [podcast_episode episode="3544" content="title,player,details"]
Announcements Commercial

Vannin Capital Names UK Regional Managing Director

Vannin Capital, the global expert in legal finance, has today announced that Rosie Ioannou has been appointed as UK Regional Managing Director.

 Rosie joined Vannin in 2014 as a Managing Director and has since been a driving force behind its growth and development, as well as the evolution of the litigation funding industry in the UK and around the globe. In her new role, she will have overall responsibility for Vannin’s UK business, leading the team of UK Managing Directors. Her appointment underscores Vannin’s ambitious growth objectives for the years ahead, and the role that the UK litigation market will play in realising those ambitions.

Highly regarded for her experience in funding claims in areas such as insolvency, competition and UK group actions, Rosie has been recognised as a Leading Individual in the UK for her work by Chambers & Partners. Prior to joining the Vannin team, she worked for magic circle law firm Allen & Overy.

Commenting on the announcement, Vannin Capital CEO Richard Hextall said: “Rosie has been fundamental to Vannin’s growth since joining the team in 2014, and her breadth of experience and reputation in the market is second to none. She is a natural choice to lead the UK team to the next stage of its growth, as we look to capitalise on the developing market in the UK and internationally.”

Rosie Ioannou said: “This is a really exciting time for Vannin as the London market for litigation funding continues to grow. The business is very well positioned to continue to diversify its portfolio and capitalise on the myriad opportunities that exist. I look forward to tackling this new challenge and helping to lead our talented UK team into the future.”

About Vannin Capital

Established in 2010, Vannin Capital is a global expert in the provision of funding to support individuals, corporate clients and law firms in the successful resolution of high-value litigation and arbitration claims.

From single case funding to portfolio finance, we offer creative capital solutions that are tailored to our clients’ needs. Our global team of legal and financial experts cover the key commercial litigation and arbitration centres from our offices in London, Jersey, Paris, Bonn, New York, Washington, Sydney and Melbourne. More than just capital, we combine global experience with local knowledge to deliver a high standard of service and expertise to our clients around the world.

A major player in the legal finance market, we are a member of the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales (ALF), conducting our business to a high standard in line with its code of conduct.

Announcements Commercial Consumer

DealFlow Announces The Litigation Funding Forum 2019 Agenda

New York, NY, Feb. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- DealFlow Events is pleased to announce the agenda for The Litigation Funding Forum 2019 coming up April 4 in New York City. The complete agenda and panel speakers: https://litigationfundingforum.com/agenda/ Here is just some of the information our slate of experts will cover during this must-attend event:
  • Latest trends in the litigation funding marketplace
  • Challenges facing legal counsel with litigation funding
  • Benefits to investors in litigation funding
  • Growth prospects in the marketplace: Leveling the legal playing field
  • What counsel should look for in identifying the right litigation financing firm for clients
  • How litigation funders determine cost to ROI
  • Contracts and risk management
  • Litigation funding in patent and intellectual property cases
The conference keynote speaker is New York State Sen. Rob Ortt, who introduced the Litigation Funding Act. Whether you are a funder, an attorney or a litigation finance consultant, The Litigation Funding Forum 2019 is a can’t-miss event. Panels of experts are ready to answer your questions regarding litigation finance, while exploring the latest legal trends, best practices and insights to maximize the benefits of litigation finance while avoiding challenges that have tripped up others. Corporate sponsors of The Litigation Funding Forum 2019 include Validity Finance, RRBB Accountants + Advisors, and Armadillo Financial Partners. Learn more about the forum at https://litigationfundingforum.com/. This event will likely sell out. Get your tickets today at https://litigationfundingforum.com/tickets/. Questions? Contact DealFlow at (516) 876-8006 or email Charlie Napolitano at charlie@dealflow.com. About DealFlow When it comes to the business of finance, the tag line “A DealFlow Event” is widely recognized as a symbol of quality. We’ve produced over 200 conferences, seminars, and webcasts on a variety of financial topics over the last 16 years. These events are the signature programs in their respective markets, offering high-quality content and unequaled professional networking opportunities. For more information about our events business, visit www.dealflowevents.com. For more information about some of our other projects, visit www.dealflow.com.
Announcements Commercial

Collaboration between law firm, litigation funder and insurance brokerage creates access to justice enhancing product for owners of intellectual property

Debenhams Ottaway LLP in association with Sparkle Capital Ltd, Sybaris Legal & IP and Acasta Europe Limited have today launched a product to fund claims brought in the Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court (“IPEC”). The product follows collaboration between the innovative law firm, who last year set up a litigation funding panel and Sparkle Capital, a litigation funder. Sybaris Legal & IP, an insurance broker operating in the intellectual property arena will operate one of the distribution channels for the product and Acasta will provide the After The Event insurance. The product can cater for claims valued from £50,000 to £500,000. The fixed recoverable costs in IPEC limit the recoverable costs in stages up to £50,000 (save in some circumstances in which a party beats a Part 36 offer). The IPEC regime is therefore attractive to litigation funders and ATE insurers because it limits exposure for adverse costs particularly where the Arkin cap[1] is under threat from developing jurisprudence. The product is aimed both at the SME market and IP portfolio holders such as brand owners, musicians and the pharmaceutical industry. It covers a variety of different types of Intellectual property claims ranging from trade mark infringement and passing-off to copyright, design right and patent infringement claims.  It combines a discounted conditional fee agreement with Debenhams Ottaway within a funding package from Sparkle Capital to meet the discounted element of the fees and disbursements. The cost of the funding is low by market standards because it is based on a fixed interest rate rather than the market standard “share of the award”. And it is non-recourse as it is covered by the relevant After the Event and Financial Guarantee Insurance provided by Acasta. Commenting on the launch of the product, Debenhams Ottaway lead litigation and dispute resolution Partner, Luke Harrison, who also serves as Chairman of the Commercial Litigation Association said: “The IPEC funding product is essentially an access to justice tool. It enables those who have suffered a legal wrong to obtain redress whilst avoiding the risks associated with litigation. Intellectual property is an intangible asset which is easy for third parties to exploit and profit from. Whilst there are a number of ways IP may be protected, enforcing those rights in practice through the Courts is often the only tool available to protect that value.” Senior Associate and lead Intellectual Property disputes Lawyer at Debenhams Ottaway, Rosie Patterson said: “The IPEC funding product should go some way to addressing the imbalance in resources that we often see between parties in IP disputes, an imbalance that frequently acts as a barrier to Claimants bringing actions to protect their rights.” Tets Ishikawa, Director at Acasta and Senior Adviser at Sparkle Capital, commented: "Acasta and Sparkle are delighted to partner with our forward-looking partners, Debenhams Ottaway and Sybaris Legal & IP, in launching this IPEC Funding Product. The delivery of real access to justice can only progress with a solutions-led approach that lead to products meeting the actual needs of legal claims. This is the result of that approach and is part of our overall strategy to deliver innovative, relevant insurance and funding products to the litigation market."  Commenting on the launch of this new product, Ian Wishart, a director of Sybaris Legal & IP and himself an experienced patent attorney and an inventor, said: “This new funding product will benefit potential litigants before IPEC who have been unable to pursue good claims, sometimes against much larger firms, because of a lack of resources.  It levels the playing field, and enables IPR owners to retain value and leverage those rights.” Notes
  1. Debenhams Ottaway LLP is a leading law firm with offices in Hertfordshire and a London space. The firm acts for high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs and established businesses including, in specialist fields, a number of household brand names. The firm’s litigation and dispute resolution team is known for its entrepreneurial and collaborative approach and fastidious approach to delivering value to clients. The firm also boasts the leading contentious intellectual property team in the northern home countries lead by former city lawyer Rosie Patterson.
  2. Sparkle Capital Ltd was founded in 2014 as a third-party commercial litigation funding business. We are a privately-owned company belonging to the family of Fred Done, who is best known for founding BetFred and various other business interests, including real estate and insurance. We are administered by Acasta Europe Limited, an ATE insurance provider.”
  3. Acasta Europe Ltd provides administrative services to Acasta European Insurance Company Ltd, an insurer founded in 2006 and active in 12 European countries across 9 classes of insurance. We are an active provider of legal expenses insurance in the UK being one of the most trusted and innovative ATE insurance providers in both delegated authority Personal Injury and bespoke commercial, clinical negligence and insolvency cases. We have a core base of loyal partners that we work closely with to provide innovative solutions that enhance their businesses.
  4. Sybaris Legal & IP is a trading identity of Sartorex Group Ltd, which is an accredited Lloyds broker. Sybaris Legal & IP has been broking specialist legal and IP risks for over six years, and has a team of highly experienced brokers and IP specialists, who have been assisting micro-businesses to £100+M turnover companies with IP insurance, After the Event insurance and litigation funding
[1] Whereby funders are ordered to pay adverse costs, but only up to the level that they invested in the case.
Announcements Consumer

Lawsuit Funding Company Earns Top Rating from TopConsumerReviews.com

TopConsumerReviews.com recently awarded their highest five-star rating to Prime Case Funding, an industry leader in lawsuit funding companies.

Lawsuit funding companies help people with pending lawsuits to access funds prior to the settlement of the case. In other words, these services extend a no-risk loan based on the assumption that their client will win their case. When the case is decided in the client’s favor, the loan is repaid from the proceeds of the lawsuit, plus a predetermined amount of interest. On the other hand, if the client loses the case, there is no obligation to repay the loan.

The deciding factor in securing this time of lending is, naturally, the likelihood of the client eventually winning the case. For that reason, the process typically involves discussions with the attorneys representing both the plaintiff and the defendant, collection of court documents, and so forth. There are a number of trustworthy lawsuit funding services that can help clients get the cash they need now, while waiting for the lawsuit to be concluded.

“Prime Case Funding is the nation’s best source of lawsuit funding,” according to Brian Dolezal of TopConsumerReviews.com, LLC. “As an accredited, “A+” rated company with the Better Business Bureau, PCF can be trusted to handle applications quickly and accurately. They can fund loans from $500 to $1,000,000 and more, on cases ranging from personal injury to false imprisonment. Customers particularly appreciate PCF’s lightning-fast turnaround time on loans, with some receiving payouts in as little as one business day. Because of their ironclad reputation, reasonable pricing, and excellent customer service, Prime Case Funding is our highest-ranked provider of Lawsuit Funding in 2019.”

To find out more about Prime Case Funding and other Lawsuit Funding companies, including reviews and comparison rankings, please visit the Lawsuit Funding category of TopConsumerReviews.com at https://www.topconsumerreviews.com/lawsuit-funding/.

About Prime Case Funding Prime Case Funding is a national full service legal funding firm serving both attorneys and their clients. They work to understand your situation and strive to tailor a financial solution that will meet your specific needs. Litigation financing can reduce financial stress and hardship that results from being in a lawsuit. Prime Case Funding’s service can empower you to “win the waiting game” and get the settlement you deserve.

About TopConsumerReviews.com TopConsumerReviews.com, LLC is a leading provider of reviews and rankings for thousands of consumer products and services. From Lawsuit Funding to Personal Loans and Debt Relief, TopConsumerReviews.com delivers in-depth product evaluations in order to make purchasing decisions easier.

Commercial

Republican Senators Reintroduce Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

A group of Republican Senators has reintroduced a bill that would mandate disclosure in class action and MDL contexts. The Senators first introduced the Litigation Funding Transparency Act (LFTA) last year, but it went nowhere. Now they are making another push with the same legislation. As reported in Law.com, Senators John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska all proposed the legislation that seeks to mandate disclosure of third party financing in class actions and MDLs. The bill stipulates disclosure within 10 days of a case being filed, or 10 days after a litigation funding agreement is signed, assuming the agreement comes mid-case. The bill would also require disclosure in the consumer legal funding context, as plaintiffs seeking cash advances against the outcome of their cases would also have to disclose their funding agreements. Last year, the House of Representatives passed a narrower version of the bill, which stipulated disclosure only in class actions. Subsequent to that, the GOP Senators introduced the LFTA. That bill failed to make any traction, and that was during a GOP-led Congress. Now that the Democrats have taken control of the House, any push for regulating the legal industry is seen as having even less chance to reach approval. Many are viewing the bill's reintroduction as the result of a continued push by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to regulate the litigation funding industry. Lisa Rickard, president of Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform, recently issued a statement supporting the bill. "When litigation funders invest in a lawsuit, they buy a piece of the case; they effectively become real parties in interest. Defendants (and courts) have a right to know who has a stake in a lawsuit and to assess whether they are using illegal or unethical means to bring the action," the statement reads.

Vannin Capital Managing Director, Michael German, had this to say: "The proposed Act is another example of special interest groups using their reach in Washington to implement legislation that goes well beyond the issue they purport to address. Vannin has been a vocal proponent of disclosure of (i) the fact that a litigant is funded and (ii) the identity of the funder. Any disclosure in excess of these facts is an overreach that does far more than solve the potential conflicts raised by Senator Grassley and his counterparts. Instead, the proposed Act would unfairly permit defendants facing legitimate lawsuits to gain an improper advantage, and force the parties and the courts into an irrelevant sideshow regarding funding terms."

The bill's reintroduction comes on the heels of the shock letter issued by GCs and senior litigators from 30 companies, asking the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to mandate disclosure of all funding agreements in civil actions. Companies like Microsoft, General Electric, AT&T and Home Depot were all signatories of the letter.
Consumer

3rd Circuit to Decide Judicial Authority Over Third Parties in MDLs in Ruling on NFL Concussion Case

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has a heavy decision to make: just how much authority (if any) can a court exercise over a third party (non-party) in a class action or MDL claim? Judge Anita Brody voided the funding contracts between three consumer funders and thousands of ex-NFL players who were suing the league for injuries sustained during their playing years. But did Judge Brody have the authority to void those contracts? That's what the 3rd Circuit must decide. As reported in Reuters, a trio of consumer legal funders - RD Legal, Thrivest, and Atlas Legal Funding - all had funding agreements with ex-players in place. The funding agreements provided players upfront money to pay for lifestyle or medical bills while they awaited their settlement in the NFL concussion case. That settlement eventually came - to the tune of $1 billion. However, Judge Anita Brody voided the funding contracts, claiming in part that the anti-assignment provision of the settlement nullifies the funding contracts. But does a court's authority over the disposition of a settlement extend to third parties, or non-parties in the claim?  Perhaps a court only retains power over a settlement for as long as that court oversees the claim itself, and once the claim is settled and the money is to be disbursed, any funding contracts already in place are beyond the scope of the court's discretion? That is what the 3rd Circuit must now decide, as the funders - led by RD Legal - have appealed her ruling. Thrivest also contends that in voiding the contracts, Judge Brody ignored an arbitration provision in its funding agreements that all disputes between players and funders be brought to arbitration. They claim her lack of deference to the arbitration agreement violates the Federal Arbitration Act. The funders argue that MDLs and class actions are large enough as is, and there must be some boundary placed on them. There is some room for agreement on this point, as class counsel Samuel Issacharoff seemed willing to concede that a court's discretion can't extend into infinity. However, Issacharoff argues that Brody does retain the authority to void contracts that were entered into during the administration of the settlement, even if she maintains no oversight of the monetary disposition. This is a key point, and one that the 3rd Circuit will have to wrestle with. The court is loathe to "stretch the outer bounds of Article III,' according to Judge Bibas of the 3rd Circuit. If the appeals court is to uphold Judge Brody's decision, that may very well be what they end up having to do.
Announcements Consumer

Legal-Bay Announces Expanded Funding For Sexual Abuse Victims

ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal-Bay, the premier pre-settlement lawsuit funding source, reports that Governor Cuomo assisted in passing a legislation to extend filing deadlines for sexual abuse survivors in the state of New York (A.8401-C/S.8977).
The new legislation, also known as The Sexual Assault Victim Bill of Rights, provides survivors with information regarding their care and treatment, affords them health care services at no cost, and allows them to receive updates regarding any DNA test results, evidence kits, and status of their case. Notifying victims of their legal rights will help ensure survivors receive the information they need to navigate complicated medical and criminal justice systems.
Chris Janish, CEO of Legal-Bay says, "The new law in NY is long overdue and was highly contested by the Catholic Church for years. We applaud NY for finally getting this done to protect all victims of past sexual abuses – and holding predators accountable both criminally and civilly." The law will take effect this summer and will enable sexual abuse victims to file criminal charges until they reach age 28 and civil cases until age 55. Because of this landmark decision, Legal-Bay predicts an influx of new filings into NY courts by the end of 2019. Legal-Bay has been a leader in assisting victims of sexual abuse get the pre settlement funding they need while they fight their cases. Legal-Bay estimates over a million adolescents have been subject to sexual abuse in the last 30 years. Legal-Bay's funding programs include car and truck accidents, slip and fall cases, medical malpractice, construction accidents, wrongful termination and discrimination cases, and all other personal injury cases. Their pre settlement programs are non-recourse, no-risk lawsuit cash advances, also known as case funding. None of the programs should be considered to be a settlement loan, settlement loans, lawsuit loan, lawsuit loans, pre-settlement loans, or a pre-settlement loan, as the money does not need to be paid back if you ultimately lose your case. To apply now for lawsuit settlement funding go to the company's website at: http://lawsuitssettlementfunding.com or call the company's toll free intake line at: 877.571.0405 where agents are standing by. SOURCE Legal-Bay LLC

Related Links

http://lawsuitssettlementfunding.com
Commercial

German Court Rules Litigation Funder Cannot Collect Earnings in Telecomm Case

Germany has been at the forefront of litigation funding in the EU for some time. Ever since FORIS-AG became the first dedicated funder there, numerous global funders, including Burford Capital which recently partnered with the law firm Hausfeld on a portfolio funding arrangement, have made inroads into Germany. But a recent decision by a German court places doubt as to the circumstances in which litigation funders can collect earnings on cases they finance. As reported in JD Supra, in September of last year, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled that a litigation funder cannot claim earnings in a "confiscation of profits" claim against a telecomm company. "Confiscation of profits" is a type of claim under German law where an entity - in this case, a consumer rights advocacy group - seeks to compel the court to confiscate the profits of a company it claims obtained those profits under unlawful means. The trial court did find that the telecomm company in question indeed acted unlawfully, and ordered profits to be confiscated. However, the Federal Court ruled the trial court's finding inadmissible, given that the non-profit consumer rights group used litigation funding to finance its case, and therefore a portion of the profits collected from the telecomm company would go to the litigation funder. While the Federal Court's finding does not endanger the use of litigation funding in civil proceedings - which remains fully legal in Germany - it does send a message to all funders operating in the jurisdiction that they should not attempt to finance a 'confiscation of profits'  claim brought by a non-profit organization.