A recent Australian class action award has some legal professionals rankled. Should the federal government take a more active role in regulating agreements between plaintiffs, attorneys, and third-party funders? Attorney General Christian Porter thinks so.
Jersey, Channel Islands, 2nd June 2020: Therium Access, the not-for-profit arm of global litigation funder Therium, has committed £100,000 and provided its own resources to help launch and deliver the Community Justice Fund alongside grant giving organisations focused on the provision of access to justice.
Clause 8 recently hosted a podcast discussion on patent law with investment manager Sarah Tsou of Bentham IMF (now a subsidiary of Omni Bridgeway). Patent law is its own legal specialty owing to the detail-oriented approach and gray areas that it encompasses. Unlike other fields, patent law is not always cut and dry. Likewise, legal cases involving patent law require specialized technical knowledge.
HONG KONG, 4 June 2020: Proceedings have been filed in Omni Bridgeway Limited‘s, (ASX:OBL) first funded international arbitration in Hong Kong since the Special Administration Region amended its Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) to permit third party funding (effective February 2019).
Eight hundred people lost their jobs when refinery Queensland Nickel became insolvent in 2016. Townsville, the locale of the refinery, found itself in financial peril after the collapse. Mayor Jenny Hill explains that the closure caused expansive economic and social issues that have still not been fully mitigated. The city claims to be owed $2.5 million by parent company QNI Metals.
Social inflation is a bit of a buzzword, used to describe a rising cost in insurance claims. Some say this is sour grapes from insurers who don’t want to pay out on pandemic-related policies. Others insist that social inflation is a real problem that, if left unchecked, can cause damage to the very concept of insurance.
MIAMI, June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Leste Group is pleased to announce that Rodrigo Machado has joined its team as Managing Director of US Real Estate. Mr. Machado joined in May 2020 and will be focused on further expanding Leste Group’s Real Estate investments business across the USA, in addition to overseeing Leste Group’s existing investments in the Multifamily, Single Family Homes for Rental, Hospitality and Healthcare sectors.
It’s normal for a plaintiff to think that after a long court process and a favorable judgment, the worst is behind them. However, not every losing defendant is going to comply as they should. So when it comes to securing judgments and awards, asset tracing is a crucial component.
TEL AVIV (June 2, 2020) – Leading U.S. litigation funder Validity Finance has opened its first international office, in Tel Aviv, recruiting prominent international-disputes lawyer Eli Schulman to head its Israel operations. Validity is the first U.S.-based funder to open an office in Israel.
Like much of the world, Canada is seeing an influx of insurance disputes connected to COVID-19. As more and more insurers insist that their business closure contracts don’t provide protections during a pandemic—businesses and private citizen alike are seeking access to justice.
A growing economy can also lead to growth in litigation disputes. That means an increasing need for great lawyers, and a means to enforce awards. After all, a good judgment doesn’t do much if it cannot be enforced. This can be a particular issue in Asian markets, where legal disputes have risen sharply in recent years.
The idea that clients may be able to pursue a claim without a large initial investment may seem too good to be true. The reality is that litigation funding exists for just that reason—so ordinary people have the means to seek justice when they are wronged.
The legal field experienced record-setting business in 2019. Alas, this year much has changed. Despite many firms seeing a large influx of cases and inquiries, financial tensions loom. COVID-19 has led to worry, late payments, furloughs, court delays, and even outright insolvency for some.
Unrest in the world of investment is nothing new. But current pandemic conditions have led to a wave of class-action lawsuits, many of which come from investors who feel that they were misled on relevant issues. In response, the Australian federal government has announced a rolling back of disclosure rules to protect large companies from class-action suits.
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.
COVID-19 does more than sicken people. It’s brought with it a recession that may take years to mitigate. Businesses across the board are enduring hiring and wage freezes, furloughs, layoffs, and even outright closures. Even the legal community is not safe from the financial ravages of the pandemic.
It’s no secret that lawyers and firms anticipate a slew of new cases as a result of COVID-19. The Litigation Finance industry in particular is preparing for a future full of contract breaches, insolvency, and failed insurance payouts. This leads some to suspect that betting on court cases will be popular among investors in the coming months.
AIM-listed Litigation Capital Management Limited (LCM), a leading international provider of disputes financing solutions, notes the announcement on 22 May 2020 by the Federal Treasurer of Australia, Josh Frydenberg, that litigation funders operating in Australia will be subject to new regulation requiring them to obtain and maintain an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL).
Therium is a household name in the world of Litigation Finance, and with good reason. As a prominent funder, they’ve expanded access to justice for countless ordinary citizens. Now, Therium has teamed up with five foundations to establish the Community Justice Fund. Its purpose is to provide grants in support of social welfare during and after the Coronavirus pandemic.
Everything we know about the business world is changing, in no small part due to the Coronavirus. Retail outlets, restaurants, bars, theaters, and even insurance companies are feeling the crunch caused by stay-at-home orders, supply shortages, and staffing woes. Yet through it all, Litigation Finance is enjoying a surge of opportunity.
Tail Risk is a term used to describe a situation that’s unlikely to happen, but would have a profound impact should it take place. The current COVID-19 pandemic certainly qualifies. The disruption caused by the Coronavirus outbreak is affecting markets around the globe, yet despite the upheaval – or perhaps because of it – Litigation Finance is thriving.
Litigation Finance is a complex and growing industry for good reason. It’s a boon to potential plaintiffs of limited means, as it increases their access to the pursuit of justice. It’s helpful for legal firms keeping the balance sheets tight while still pursuing a heavy caseload. Litigation funding is also good for the court systems at large, as funders only want to fund meritorious cases—cutting down on frivolous litigation clogging courts.
The Australian government plans to move forward with its inquiry into class-action lawsuits. This inquiry was originally planned for March of this year, but has been slow going thanks to the current pandemic. Concerns over COVID-19 have also raised questions about how class actions might hurt Australian small businesses.
The UK Legal Industry generated revenues of £9.34bn in the first calendar quarter of 2020, down 6.6% on the final quarter of 2019. And while there are usually falls between Q4 and Q1 due to seasonal factors, the drop this quarter was the highest in four years, a full one percentage point greater than the drop in the same period in the prior year. The final weeks of March cover the period when Covid-19 was beginning to impact the economy.
The first episode in this series is titled “An Introduction to a New Yet Old Funding Alternative” and is co-produced by West LegalEdCenter™. It will feature Jeremy Waitzman (Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger LLP); Dave Kerstein (Validity Finance LLC); Christopher Freeman (Burford Capital); Joel Cohen (Stout); and Jeffery Lula (GLS Capital, LLC).
A recent settlement involving Sydney telecom giant Vocus is raising questions about third-party funding arrangements. The debate between common fund orders (CFOs) versus funding equalization orders (FEOs) reached its apex, when Justice Moshinsky’s ruling resulted in a lower payout to litigation funder Woodsford.
This week, the Supreme Court of Canada publicly released the reasoning behind its January decision in a case involving third-party litigation funding. The ruling provides clarity for an earlier act known as CCAA—the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act. The unanimous ruling found that a gaming software company may use third-party funding to pursue a $200MM lawsuit against Callidus Capital Corporation.
The contentious divorce of Putin ally Farkhad Akhmedov and his wife, Tatiana, has produced escalating divorce proceedings for nearly two decades. Lawyers for each party have asserted multiple claims of previous divorces that can’t be corroborated, requests for personal emails between father and son, and now—an accusation of champerty regarding Burford Capital’s funding of Tatiana Akhmedova. Technically, the backing of claims by third-party funders in exchange for profit has been illegal in Russia since feudal times.
The global financial crisis of 2008 brought with it a flood of class action litigation against big banks. A similar wave of litigation is expected in the post-COVID world. Indeed, it might be even more widespread. In recent years, the rules and procedures surrounding the formation of class action suits have become more sophisticated. Advances in the understanding and use of Litigation Finance make pursing class actions less complicated.
