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

Leading litigation funder Burford Capital has revealed that nearly 50% of its current cases have experienced delays relating to COVID.

Litigation Finance is a growing asset class, spurred on by the financial fallout caused by COVID. Increasingly, investors are seeking uncorrelated investments. As Gary Sweidan, founder of Taurus Capital explains, litigation funding is about as uncorrelated as it gets.

It’s no surprise that COVID has resulted in an influx of insurance-related litigation. Specifically—the question of whether individual commercial insurance policies cover business interruption caused by the pandemic.

The COVID pandemic has wreaked havoc on many industries, energy included. Energy usage fell, production disruption was rampant, regulations changed all over the world, and at least 19 energy companies filed for bankruptcy last year. Burford’s newly commissioned 2021 Asset Report explores the ways in which energy companies can use their legal assets to create revenue.

Leading litigation funder Omni Bridgeway is currently observing multiple significant milestones, including the 35th anniversary of its founding. In addition, 2021 represents 20 years since it was first listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and the opening of its German arm.

Anyone hoping to be a success in the world of legal finance should expect to amass knowledge from multiple industries. Banking, litigation, corporate finance, IP and patent laws, and more. This is why many of the most successful funding entities employ staffers from multiple business disciplines, and why they seek out those with cross-disciplinary skill sets.

Burford Capital is the largest Litigation Finance company on Earth. Returns on litigation investments are consistently high, yet investment pros can’t seem to agree whether Burford stock is a big risk or a sure thing. The truth, as always, may be somewhere in between.

Litigation Finance has seen big legal developments over the last year and a half. Especially impacted are insolvency practitioners and those who work in asset recovery.

If the old adage that “time is money” is true, then the length of time it takes to file a case, see it to completion and actually receive the award, can be unpredictable at best.

Funders and risk specialist Erso Capital has released its Q1 statement, and it seems largely positive. The funders report high demand for single-case funding. It also boasts a strong portfolio of completed transactions in several jurisdictions.

RBG Holdings has recently published its pre-close trading update. This comes ahead of its six-month financial report—expected in September of this year. RBG Group includes several profitable divisions, including those providing commercial and dispute-related legal services, and litigation funding.

The story of Lionheart Capital begins with John Ruiz and Ophir Sternberg (real estate developer and founder of Lionheart). Sternberg joined forces with hedge fund Elliott Management, turning Heart Hospital into a spate of luxury villas. This past May, Ruiz and Sternberg bought Cigarette Racing Team together.

The financial uncertainties brought about by COVID are one driver for the increased use of third-party legal finance. Businesses are becoming insolvent in record numbers. Even those with strong cash reserves are burning through them at unprecedented rates. How does legal funding help?

We tend to think of legal funding as a tool used by the ‘Davids’ in a David v Goliath matchup. Increasingly, however, litigation funding is being used in divorce cases.

Complaints against third-party litigation funding tend to focus on a few oft-repeated points. Increased litigation, class actions in particular, ostensibly cause insurance rates to rise. Funders aren’t always required to disclose their funding agreements, ostensibly hiding a potential conflict of interest. Finally, funders are blamed for a supposed increase in frivolous actions—even though no funder wants to take on a case without merit.

A recent study into the future of legal funding resulted in several interesting insights. These include potential market growth, use of funding by corporates, expense, and strategic input into cases.

Not all companies are enthusiastic about filing an IP lawsuit—even a highly meritorious one. Such cases are costly, complicated, and may not resolve for years. At the same time, the potential for a large recovery is high.

Banks like Barclays, JP Morgan, and Citigroup may believe that the fines levied against them in 2019 mark the end of a long road, yet that may turn out to be far from the truth. 

Prominent third-party litigation funder LCM (Litigation Capital Management) has secured a trio of major legal funding agreements in the last seven weeks. These include cases against rail services giant Govia, French electrical retailer Darty, and former Carillion auditor KPMG. As expected, investors have noticed LCM’s success; share prices rose 25%. Many analysts, including Simon Thompson, are lauding the stock and calling it a ‘buy.’

A new government proposal has been met with strenuous objections from litigation funders, lawyers and company directors alike. The proposal would mandate that at least 70% of any payout in a class action must go to the members of that action. Some find it telling that the Law Council of Australia stated that such a limit would make claims financially untenable for litigation funders.

Litigation Finance has experienced tremendous growth in recent months—owing to the pandemic among other factors. It’s increasingly popular among investors seeking an uncorrelated asset class. However, few mechanisms exist to allow investors to select the cases they fund directly—one of those, is AxiaFunder.

Australian Federal Court has established that liquidators may assign the right to examine relevant parties and to acquire documents.

It’s been fascinating to watch the progression of litigation funding happening around the world. Territories each develop their own regulations based on specific goals, when welcoming the practice. Some are positioning themselves as litigation destinations, while others seek ways for the practice to benefit citizens with the greatest need.

Thanks to the global financial upheaval caused by the COVID pandemic, companies around the world fear a financial shortfall. Litigation funding is one way that corporates alleviate financial pressure.

Two recent court rulings are being touted as a death knell for a controversial litigation funding model involving whistleblowers. The Justice Department has never downplayed its opposition to investors profiting from government lawsuits. Whether the practice is an innovation in identifying wrongdoing while profiting financially, or heretical to the idea of whistleblower protections—it does seem that the involvement of litigation funders in whistleblower cases may be on its way out.