The following article is part of an ongoing column titled ‘Investor Insights.’
Brought to you by Ed Truant, founder and content manager of Slingshot Capital, ‘Investor Insights’ will provide thoughtful and engaging perspectives on all aspects of investing in litigation finance.
Amicus Capital Group (“Amicus”), a specialty finance company headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, has announced the extension and expansion of its program to purchase loans made to contingency-based law firms, with a special interest in portfolios of troubled or under-performing assets.
ELEV8: Litigation Finance conference unveils the latest investment opportunities and trends in the exploding litigation market that has grown by over 400% in the last 5 years. For investors, litigation finance presents a vehicle to deploy capital uncorrelated to equity or debt markets, with the opportunity to realize significant returns. The conference connects investors, law firms, plaintiff, thought leaders and regulatory agencies in order to facilitate actionable dialogue and foster a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. In support of that mission, we sponsor an ongoing effort to share information and build confidence in deal making to accelerate the growth of litigation finance.
Deputy Associate Attorney General Stephen Cox of the Justice Department gave a speech on Monday to False Claims Act (FCA) attorneys, and Cox expressed concern that DOJ doesn’t know the extent to which FCA attorneys are using litigation funding. Cox mentioned that Justice is considering mandating disclosure of litigation funding agreements for FCA whistleblowers.
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GLS Capital, LLC today announced the completion of fundraising of its inaugural litigation finance fund, GLS Capital Partners Fund I, LP. Together with its affiliates, the Fund has investor commitments totaling more than $345 million.
AMSTERDAM, 23 January 2020: Omni Bridgeway and IMF Bentham Limited (ASX:IMF) are delighted to announce the addition of veteran commercial lawyer, Mr Maarten van Luyn, to the company’s expanding Europe team. Maarten joins as Director of Collective Redress, based in Amsterdam, where he will source, assess and manage high value strategic litigation finance solutions throughout Europe, with a focus on group claims and LegalTech solutions for group claims.
NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — BlueWhite Legal Capital (“BlueWhite”), a privately-held litigation finance firm, today announced that Daniel Stone, most recently with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Joseph Magnus, most recently with Morgan Stanley, have joined the firm as Managing Directors. Both individuals bring deep expertise in their respective fields of law and finance.
The following article is part of an ongoing column titled ‘Investor Insights.’
Brought to you by Ed Truant, founder and content manager of Slingshot Capital, ‘Investor Insights’ will provide thoughtful and engaging perspectives on all aspects of investing in litigation finance.
NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Kyle Roche, Jason Cyrulnik and Vel Freedman today announced the launch of a premier litigation boutique, Roche Cyrulnik Freedman LLP (RCF) (www.rcfllp.com). RCF’s 12 former Boies Schiller Flexner litigators, including two equity partners, represent the first breakaway firm from Boies Schiller Flexner LLP since that firm’s inception in 1997.
The following article is the first in an ongoing column titled ‘Investor Insights.’
Brought to you by Ed Truant, founder and content manager of Slingshot Capital, ‘Investor Insights’ will provide thoughtful and engaging perspectives on all aspects of investing in litigation finance.
According to the Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, (Order XXV Rule 3), litigation funding in India is permissible, in that non-lawyers are not restricted from accepting remuneration upon a completed claim. With recent litigation funding partnerships in the engineering and construction sectors, it seems litigation funding in India is poised for growth.
Among the chief concerns over the rise of litigation funding are the potential growth of frivolous lawsuits, and funder control over case decisions. While those worries haven’t exactly panned out as many industry skeptics had imagined, they remain nagging concerns as the funding industry continues to expand with new entrants and capital sources. One unifying solution to both of these ethical problems is to mandate that lawyers who partner with litigation funders operate on success-based fee arrangements.
Theo Paeffgen joins Harbour Litigation Funding today as a Director of Litigation Funding focusing on Continental Europe. Prior to joining Harbour, Theo was Regional Managing Director (DACH) at Vannin Capital, having acted as CEO of FORIS, a German focused litigation funder.
CHICAGO, Jan. 8, 2020 –Delta Capital Partners Management LLC, a private equity and advisory firm specializing in litigation finance, today announced major milestones in its growth.
Jonathan Mitchell of Mitchell Law PLLC has filed 21 class actions against public sector unions over the past two years. According to a recent court filing in which Mitchell disclosed the source of his funding, Chicago-based Juris Capital has been financing his class action claims.
With over 600 class actions filed in Australia since the regime was first allowed 27 years ago, litigation funders are finding the class action sector to be a wellspring of potential investment. Yet the rise and subsequent fall of common fund orders underscores the backlash that is growing against the sector.
We are delighted to announce we have established a funding facility with major law firm, Royds Withy King. This £10 million pound innovative funding facility will allow the law firm to offer clients a competitive edge in the litigation arena where the costs of pursuing claims to trial can be prohibitively expensive. The funding will enable clients to unlock claims which they might otherwise find difficult to bring or where they wish to structure their own finances to the benefit of their business interests rather than the litigation.
In a bid to reduce the number of class actions in Australia, the Aussie Supreme Court has struck down common fund orders, which allow courts to order that all members of a class pay a portion of their settlement or payout to the litigation funder, regardless of whether they signed an agreement with that funder. The ruling changes the game for class action funding in Australia.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The range of risks facing company executives or directors and officers (D&Os) – as well as resulting insurance claims scenarios – has increased significantly in recent years. With corporate management under the spotlight like never before, a new report by insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) highlights five mega trends that will have significant risk implications for senior management in 2020 and beyond. The report, “Directors And Officers Insurance Insights 2020”, also examines some of the factors which are driving recent changes in the D&O insurance market after a period of sustained large loss activity.
Last week, we reported on the contentious back-and-forth between litigation funders LPF Group and IMF Bentham. LPF accused IMF of muddying the waters with a potential shareholder action against failed insurer CBL, whom LPF is already bankrolling an action against. Now, IMF Bentham has formally stepped into the fray, after law firm Glaister Ennor filed a shareholder action which the Aussie-based funder is backing on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Arowana, the New Zealand company that established Intueri Education Group in 2010, took it public in 2014, then liquidated it in 2017, is facing a potential class action lawsuit by Adina Thorn Lawyers and funded by LPF Group. However Arowana has clearly stated that the company is confident any class action against it stands no chance of success.
Litigation funders have long been vying to get a piece of Obamacare insurance claims, which allege the federal government failed to make good on a host of payments to health insurers. Now that the Supreme Court has decided to hear several of those claims, funders have begun reaching out to insurers with more attractive terms and pricing.
Litigation funder LPF Group is funding a shareholder class action against the now-defunct insurance company CBL Corp., as well as its former directors. LPF has complained to ASIC, an Australian regulator, about rival funder IMF Bentham’s proposed action, which may end up targeting only CBL and not the former directors.
Burford Capital’s Equity Project turned one year old last month. The initiative – launched by senior managing director Aviva Will – is aimed at incentivizing female lawyers to take greater risks. The mechanism for accomplishing this is a $50MM fund that can only be used for claims where a female attorney is first-chair, plaintiffs’ lead counsel or on a plaintiffs’ steering committee, or if the claimant is represented by a female-owned law firm.
November 19, 2019—NASHVILLE— The first-ever detailed analysis of the U.S. commercial litigation finance industry places its size at $2.3 billion, leading U.S. litigation finance advisor, Westfleet Advisors, reported today in its inaugural Westfleet Advisors Litigation Finance Buyer’s Guide. Driven by data collected directly from litigation funders, the Guide represents the first reliable calculation of the size of the U.S. litigation finance industry and offers the most complete and revealing picture ever painted of the sector. This study includes data on the size, scope and focus of U.S. commercial litigation finance, as well as detailed profiles of many of the 41 litigation funders active in the space.
National Australia Bank (NAB) is facing a myriad of regulatory actions and lawsuits which is leaving company executives in a lurch. After voluntarily self-reporting potential compliance issues to regulators, the bank announced to shareholders in its annual report that it is facing mounting legal and financial pressure in the wake of revelations from the Hayne Royal Commission.
A new survey by Konexo, the alternative legal services department of Aussie law firm Eversheds Sutherland, has found that nearly 2/3 of in-house counsel surveyed report increased pressure to reduce costs, while resources continue to dwindle. Yet despite this, GCs are loathe to outsource work to external counsel, instead looking for alternatives to the traditional law firm model.
