News and analysis dedicated to the commercial litigation funding sector including regulatory issues, case developments, funding activities, and more.

London International Disputes Week 21 includes numerous discussions on dispute resolution. This year’s theme, Looking forward: Change, Challenge, and Opportunity, encapsulates how the legal and financial worlds have had to adapt to a rapidly changing landscape.

The University of California Board of Regents passed the 2021-22 budget at its most recent virtual meeting. The budget includes mental health support for students, open access for research, and finding new ways to innovate and support entrepreneurship. How will the university accomplish these goals without raising tuition? Partially through litigation funding.

One of the largest wealth management entities in Australia, Morgans, has agreed to settle its lawsuit with clients. The issues allegedly  stemmed from one Brisbane-adjacent branch of the company that repeatedly caused concern for compliance officers.

It was only a few years ago that most people thought cryptocurrency was a passing fad. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are similarly misunderstood among consumers—but that may be about to change.

Estia Health announced an agreement to settle a class action over disclosure. Shareholders allege that failure to disclose relevant information to ASX led to inflated stock prices.

London International Disputes Week recently held a discussion regarding the role of litigation funding in collective actions. As the practice of third-party funding grows in popularity and scope, those in power have been seeking to regulate it.

Apple has been accused of flouting UK competition laws by overcharging UK customers for products from its app store. The London case, filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal today, involves about 20 million customers in the UK.

Claimants have launched an appeal in the Shattercane class action. The Queensland Supreme Court decision came down last month in the case, which involved contamination by shattercane weeds in seeds sold to produce sorghum.

Members of the IALF Working Group met to discuss seven agenda items including filling leadership positions within the organization. Seven members attended via video, and six via Email.

Between 2013-2015, sportswear giant Nike won court battles against more than 600 counterfeit shoe sellers based in China. Assets were ordered frozen by a US court. While Nike did win, every counterfeiter defaulted on the judgment.

Australian courts have had to adapt to the changes brought about by the increased use of litigation funding. The practice is a net gain for the community and clients who gain access to justice they could not otherwise afford. Still, some say that the availability of funding has sparked an untenable number of lawsuits—class actions in particular.

A funded class-action against the group of Australian building companies known as James Hardie is about to begin. Leaks in 376 buildings led to homeowners seeking damages of roughly AUD $220 million. Harbour Litigation Funding provided support for the case early on.

BHP is, by market value, the largest mining company in the world. In 2015, the Fundao dam, owned jointly by BHP and Vale (Samarco) collapsed—killing 19 people and contaminating the Doca river, reaching all the way to the Atlantic Ocean over 400 miles away.

A $300 million judgment known in legal circles as “The Zhunus Judgement” is still being scrutinized by the parties involved. Harbour Litigation Funding brought several charges against Kazakhstan Kagazy JSC with relation to the judgment.

Sundance Resources Ltd (“Sundance” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has signed a binding Capital Provision Agreement (“CPA”) with Burford Asia Investments Pte. Ltd. (“Burford”), an affiliate of Burford Capital Limited, the world’s leading global finance and asset management business focused on law.

It is well understood that Litigation Finance offers plaintiffs a means to pay legal teams, experts, researchers, and others who can make or break a legal matter. But what else does third-party litigation finance accomplish?

Litigation Finance has changed dramatically in the last decade-plus. Boosted by a global health and financial crisis, third-party legal funding has risen to the occasion with spectacular adaptability. But as regulations evolve and societal understanding of the practice grows—how will that impact the industry in the years to come?

A class-action lawsuit against Sector Alarm and Verisure accuses the companies of over billing customers to the tune of NOK 1-2 billion.

The use of third-party legal funding is gaining acceptance around the world. In the Middle East, both civil and Shariah jurisdictions exist. This implies various concerns in regard to ensuring that legal funding is Shariah-compliant.

Kenneth A Brause, a 35-year veteran of the financial services industry, has been appointed the new CFO of Burford Capital. He’ll be fulfilling his duties in the New York office after a three-month period where the current CFO, Jim Killman, will aid in the transition.

Speculation is rampant that a recent 5.6% drop in Omni Bridgeway stock was precipitated by a partial settlement in the Wivenhoe class action. The funded case, which involved over 6,500 claimants, sought damages of roughly $880 million. Defendants included the Queensland government, and two state-owned companies: Seqwater, and Sunwater.

The latest episode of the LFJ Podcast features Ben Moss, Litigation Finance Portfolio Advisor at Orchard Group. Ben discussed the benefits of Orchard’s asset manager model, how Orchard is approaching the market, the types of claims it is looking to fund, and outlined his predictions for the industry as the global legal landscape emerges from COVID-induced lockdowns.

Survivors of the so-called “Stolen Generations” may finally see their day in court. Shine Lawyers are gearing up to file a class action against the Australian government. More than 800 claimants are asking to be compensated for the loss of culture and connection to their country, and for the trauma suffered.  

A 2017 class-action lawsuit brought by Shine Lawyers against Westpac Group has settled. The case claimed that an estimated 80,000 customers were sold unnecessarily expensive insurance between 2011-2017. The action was funded by third-party legal funder JustKapital.

Since the 2016/17 financial year, the size of the Litigation Finance market has doubled—bringing total assets under management to a whopping GBP 2 billion. Why is that?

Those who remain skeptical of the benefits of Litigation Finance need look no further than the recent UK Post Office case. Last week, 30 criminal convictions were vacated in an action that would not have proceeded were it not for third-party legal funding. And make no mistake—that would have been a grave injustice.