Industry Leaders React to the Election’s Impact on Litigation Funding Agreements Bill
As LFJ recently reported, the surprise announcement of the UK general election being held on 4 July has had unforeseen consequences for the litigation finance industry, with the government’s efforts to reverse the effects of the Supreme Court’s PACCAR decision appearing to have stalled.
An article in City A.M. covers the reaction of law firms and litigation funders to the news that the Prime Minister’s election announcement would mean that the Litigation Funding Agreements (Enforceability) Bill will not move forward at present.
The collective feeling among industry professionals appears to show widespread dissatisfaction following the encouraging progress that the bill had already made, with Martyn Day, co-president of the Collective Redress Lawyers Association describing the development as “disappointing news”. In particular, Day highlighted that the election had undermined the work that had gone into the bill and the momentum it had gained, saying that the certainty the bill provided to funders “is now lost for at least some months while the political future of the country is decided”.
Mohsin Patel, co-founder and director at Factor Risk Management, offered substantive commentary on the issue and called this roadblock in the bill’s progress “frustrating for many, particularly given the relatively swift manner in which the government had sought to rectify its position on litigation funding.” However, Patel remained optimistic that legislation to solve this issue would still be passed even if there is a change in government following the election, highlighting the “non-partisan nature of the bill, and the groundswell in public opinion in support of the funding industry following the Post Office scandal”.
Litigation Capital Management’s CEO, Patrick Moloney appeared to share this viewpoint and suggested that “if there is a change of government one might have thought a Labour led government would be equally focused on access to justice thus allowing the passing of the Bill.”
Julian Chamberlayne, partner at Stewarts, explained that on a procedural level this is the end of the road for the current version of the draft legislation, due to the fact that “A Bill cannot be carried over from one Parliament to the next.” Chamberlayne went on to say that “whether it can be introduced in the same form, and whether it will be in the Lords or House of Commons, will depend on who forms the next Government.”
