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

Cereal and snack company Freedom Foods is still in voluntary suspension from ASX until its recapitalization is completed in April. Since then, the company sold to Arnott for $20 million.

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has confirmed that it has changed the sunset date of the ASIC Corporations Instrument from October 2020 to August 2025.

Arbitral awards are widely enforceable, which is a bonus for the parties involved. However, this enforcement is finite. There are limitation periods which, once surpassed, can render an arbitral award unenforceable.

A recent roundtable of law firm leaders featured Jason Peltz of Bartlit Beck, Frank Ryan of DLA Piper, and Jason Leckerman of Ballard Spahr. They discussed industry trends, the ongoing impact of COVID, and how to best educate the public about legal funding.

Thomas Miller, UK Insurer, has recently acquired the litigation insurance business—TheJudge Group. This merger has launched Erso Capital, a litigation finance firm with a staggering $1 billion in capital, housed within discretionary funds, single managed accounts, and co-investment funds. 

Some say that Britain is in the midst of a third wave of class actions. After the US and Australian markets embraced the practice of collective actions against big businesses and governments, class actions—especially those backed by third-party legal funders—have gained popularity around the globe.

A recent roundtable of law firm leaders featured a discussion on the most challenging aspects of the COVID crisis. Moderator Christine Azar is a director at Burford and a leading litigator. Participants include Jason Leckerman, Litigation Chair at Ballard Spahr, Jason Peltz, managing partner at Barlit Beck, and Frank Ryan, Global Co-Chair and Co-CEO of DLA Piper.

As financial uncertainty grows, potential clients of every stripe are looking for ways to finance cases, see their day in court, and improve their bottom line. Legal finance offers a variety of creative solutions to keep balance sheets in the black, and to improve access to justice for those who need it most.

One of the largest class actions in UK history is set to return to court for a hearing next month. Millions of consumers in the UK could see payouts of hundreds of pounds each in an action claiming the credit giant charged unlawfully high fees between May 1992 and June 2008.

Claimants in the Steinhoff class action can’t shake the suspicion that former chair Christo Wiese is getting far more than he should. A proposed global settlement in the class action has Wiese’s recovery rate estimated to be at least eight times more than that of shareholders—and possibly as much as 15 times more.

Responding to increases in legal finance applications, Litigation Capital Management announced that the company has secured $50 million in credit. This will increase the funder’s ability to bankroll cases.

Part Two of Omni Bridgeway’s podcast features input from Robert Bordone, Senior Fellow at Harvard Law. This portion features discussion around unproductive behaviors of others, alternative negotiation methods, positional bargaining, and takeaways from the Harvard Negotiation Institute Workshop.

Widespread economic uncertainty often gives rise to an increase in IP lawsuits, as companies seek to extract value from IP assets. Right now, regulatory changes are taking place around the world that will make things easier for patent holders.

Burford Capital has announced that it will resume shareholder payouts this year, after suspending dividend outlay in 2020. Reports from the funder indicate that group-wide portfolio claims rose 8%, totaling $4.6 billion.

Negotiation strategy in commercial dispute resolution is a nuanced and complicated endeavor. Chief Investment Officer at Omni Bridgeway, Clive Bowman, discusses the issue with Robert Bordone, Senior Fellow at Harvard Law.

The UK takes great pride in its legal system and the ability of that system to mete out justice for everyone. This was demonstrated last year, when a test case brought by the FCA was adjudicated in only seven months. It was ultimately resolved by the Supreme Court, which ruled that insurers must cover COVID-related losses for their policyholders.

It’s estimated that third-party funders put up over $2.3 billion a year to help get lawsuits off the ground. Despite those staggering numbers, the industry is poised for further growth. As COVID-related delays and work stoppages continue, the need for legal funding is expected to surge.

After a forced liquidation in 2019, Neil Woodford is back. The former “Oracle of Oxford” announced his new business venture, WCM Partners, after a public apology for what transpired in his last business. The new venture will be based in Jersey and Buckinghamshire.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg continues his assault on class actions by making permanent what was meant to be a temporary regulatory shield. The extension of the COVID-inspired policy means that corporations breaching their disclosure obligations may now only be subjected to civil penalties in situations where they acted knowingly and with negligence or recklessness.

More often than not, corporate legal departments have their own preferred provider network of law firm partners. Periodically, these networks are reevaluated and updated to streamline strategy or control costs. These occasional reviews have become more frequent, and requests for proposals (RFPs) are up 25% from where they were in 2017. As restructuring and budget shortfalls are becoming increasingly common thanks to COVID, these panel reviews are likely to continue.

As COVID continues to ravage businesses, insolvencies and breach of contract lawsuits have skyrocketed. In India, businesses are enduring a crash in sales and revenue. They also lack the mechanisms needed to effectively address the sharp rise in litigation.

A settlement between kiwifruit growers and the Crown has finally been reached. Ray Smith, director of the Ministry for Primary Industries has stated that all parties agreed to move forward and bring the case—which has been running since 2014—to a close.

Roughly 45 million Mastercard holders are represented in a class action against the credit giant. Accused of using ‘interchange fees’ to charge unreasonably high prices, Mastercard faces a claim that could be worth GBP 14 billion.

It’s no secret that an increase in insolvency filings looms on the horizon. Debt restructuring, government relief programs, and belt-tightening can only take a business so far. What many businesses don’t realize is that third-party legal funding can provide financial wiggle room.

A global pandemic may have brought sweeping changes, but it hasn’t slowed the filing of new cases. Early numbers suggest that new cases are being filed at about the same levels as the previous year, or higher. ICSID reported 58 new ICSID Convention and Additional Facility arbitrations last year—the most ever. SIAC also reported a record-high number of new cases, topping 1,000 for the first time ever.

About 350 farmers have already registered in the class action suit against Fonterra, but attorney David Burstyner, says that’s not enough. The founding partner of Adley Burstyner has expressed concern that some farmers might be hoping to benefit from the case without attending meetings or becoming involved.

ISGM is facing a class action, alleging that telecom workers endured financial losses stemming from a sub-contracting agreement with the company. Now, the court has approved a counter-claim against group members. 

A recent survey from Omni Bridgeway and the 2020 ACC in-house Legal Virtual Conference suggests that an inability to work litigation costs into corporates’ budgets is what is spurring the rising interest in litigation funding. A panel discussion at the conferenced dissected how legal finance can assist in-house legal teams to manage risk and monetize legal assets.