PERTH, AUSTRALIA, 8 AUGUST 2019: In response to a (short) report issued by a US investment firm on 7 August 2019 on Burford Capital Limited (Burford), leading global dispute resolution financier and industry founder, IMF Bentham Limited (ASX:IMF), notes the following in relation to IMF’s accounting policies and disclosures.
There’s been much talk about litigation funding and legal fees, and whether the existence of funding generates an inherent conflict of interest. While there are some legitimate concerns here, the anxiety is mostly overblown. In an increasingly-commoditized industry, litigation funders aren’t likely to risk repetitional harm by directing or even influencing case management and strategy.
All of that said, legal fees are only one side of the coin. Funders also cover case expenses, and here is an area where conflict of interest may actually arise.
US-based hedge fund Muddy Waters has caused some serious ripples with its allegations against Burford Capital. In a recently released video, Muddy Waters CEO contends that Burford’s largest shareholder – Invesco – essentially bailed out Napo Pharmaceuticals, a company whose legal claim Burford was financing.
A new survey by Validity Finance and ALM has yielded some impressive results for litigation funders to harp onto. A full 98% of attorneys surveyed who had used litigation finance at least once in the past said they would do so again, and 93% found their experience to be positive.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — ArbiLex today announced the launch of its Arbitrator Analytics Platform, which is transforming the practice of international arbitration by ranking arbitrators through a proprietary reasoning system to enhance decision-making by law firms and litigation funds. ArbiLex has successfully tested the efficacy of its algorithms with leading global law firms and litigation funds seeking a competitive edge in multi-billion-dollar cases around the world.
London, 5th August 2019, Augusta, the UK’s largest litigation and dispute funding institution by case volume – today announces the appointment ofAnna Malek as Head of HR, based in London. Anna joins from software and services group Editec where, as Global Head of HR, she managed the full range of people related functions.
As litigation funding gains mainstream acceptance, there have been more and more headline-making allegations which are casting a shadow over the industry. Despite the funding community’s best efforts to assuage such ethical concerns, they persist and continue to plague the nascent market.
Global Lawsuit Loans Market Report 2019 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world’s major regional market conditions of the Lawsuit Loans industry, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia) and the main countries (United States, Germany, Japan and China).
Legal Tech is slowly-but-surely permeating all aspects of the Legal Services industry. And one fast-moving sector of Legal Tech is billing software, which seeks to scrape data on legal costs to better predict how much lawyers will end up charging on a given claim.
The research report, titled “Global Litigation Funding Investment Market Size and Forecast to 2024,” proposes an evaluation of this market on the basis of its history as well as the present-day performance. The report further emphasizes on each of the topographical segments. The principal driving forces, restrictions, hindering factors, key trends, opportunities, and future prospects of the global market have also been taken into consideration in this market study.
Global Crowdfunding Litigation Market Report 2019 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world’s major regional market conditions of the Crowdfunding Litigation industry, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia) and the main countries (United States, Germany, Japan and China).
With no automatic enforcement mechanism in place and only 60% of awards under £10,000 being fully enforced, the UK is experiencing a crisis of enforcement. Given that litigation funders must take collection risk into account when proposing an investment thesis, it’s worth examining the current enforcement climate in the UK in greater detail.
BEIJING, URUMQI, China and HANGZHOU, China, July 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — China Lending Corporation (“China Lending” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CLDC), a non-bank financial corporation servicing micro, small and medium sized enterprises in China, today announced that it has entered into a five-year strategic partnership with Zhong Lian Jin An Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd. (“ZLJA”), a leading insurance brokerage company in China with over 90 branches across the nation.
London – 29 July, 2019 – A collective action under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 was filed today in the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) by Scott+Scott Europe LLP against five banks who unlawfully manipulated the foreign exchange (FX) market between 2007 and 2013. The representative of the claimant group, Michael O’Higgins, has filed against Barclays plc, Citibank, Royal Bank of Scotland plc, JPMorgan and UBS on behalf of affected entities, including pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds and corporates. This collective action is being funded by Therium Capital Management, a leading global litigation funder.
Augusta, the UK’s largest litigation and dispute funding institution by case volume – with a team of 70 in London – today announces the appointment of Polly Bahl as Chief Operating Officer, based in London. Polly joins from US law firm Proskauer Rose where, as London Director of Professional and Administrative Resources, she coordinated a range of operational functions. A solicitor by training, Polly qualified with SJ Berwin (now King & Wood Mallesons) where she became a partner specialising in private investment funds, a role which latterly incorporated various operational responsibilities.
Dubai: Middle East Global Advisors, a leading financial intelligence platform spearheading the development of knowledge-based economies in the MENASEA markets, will convene The 2nd Annual Corporate Restructuring Summit (CRS 2019) – the MENA region’s pre-eminent Debt Restructuring and NPL-focused Summit, in strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) on September 11-12 at the Address Dubai Mall in Dubai, UAE.
Last year, the New York City Bar Association issued an advisory opinion suggesting that funding agreements between lawyers and third party funders violates ABA Model Rule 5.4(a), which prohibits fee sharing with non-lawyers. The opinion has sparked furious debate (and much consternation) in the litigation funding community ever since. But practically speaking, how has the NYC Bar’s opinion impacted law firm funding?
Recently, law firm Kirkland & Ellis announced a ten-fold increase in investment dollars towards contingency-fee plaintiff-side claims. Alternative fee arrangements have been the most profitable component of the law firm thus far, so management figures ‘why not roll the dice’ on what’s already been working? The question now is: is Kirkland’s approach a harbinger of things to come? And if so, how will this impact litigation funders down the road?
Dividex, the international securities class action broker and case manager, wanted in on a Novo Nordisk class action after the stock shed over $50B in the wake of fraud allegations. The only problem? No litigation funders would bite, given that the Danish Pharma company would have to face the scales of justice on its home turf (international securities actions can no longer be tried in the U.S., pursuant to a 2010 Supreme Court decision). And since funding is needed to get an international securities action off the ground, the deal was dead in the water. Until, that is, Dividex packaged the deal into its own version of a portfolio funding arrangement.
CALGARY, July 17, 2019 /CNW/ – JL Energy Transportation Inc. (“JETI”, more: www.jlenergy.com) announces that it has successfully defended a Federal Court challenge to its gas transportation patent, with the Court confirming the validity of its key patent terms. This endorsement clears the way for JETI’s continuation of its license and patent infringement claims against an alliance of major Canadian and US pipeline and gas processing companies.
GoFundMe recently cancelled an Australian rugby player’s crowdfunded legal campaign, and the story made international headlines. Now some experts are scrutinizing the ethical and practical concerns of crowdfunding litigation; some of which will sound very familiar to litigation funders, yet others are unique to the crowdfunding niche.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– BroadRiver Asset Management, L.P., a New York based manager of alternative assets announced today that Emma Dickson has joined the firm as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer and a key member of the firm’s management team.
After being tossed out by the High Court, the $4 billion Therium-funded Google class action has reached the UK Court of Appeals. The lead applicant, Richard Lloyd – a former consumer rights organization director – is claiming Google owes 4.4 million Brits hundreds of pounds each for its nefarious ‘Safari Workaround’ software, which was allegedly used to spy on iPhone users.
Law firm Adina Thorn is bringing a class action – funded by Harbour Litigation Funding – on behalf of homeowners who experienced damage to their properties due to leaky cladding installed by the James Hardie multi-national conglomerate. The James Hardie parent company is based in Ireland, and attempting to exclude it and all international subsidiaries from liability, leaving the New Zealand subsidiary as the sole defendant. However, Thorn claims the New Zealand subsidiary is insolvent, and that the parent company should therefore be on the hook.
Kirkland & Ellis – the nation’s largest law firm by gross revenue – has announced plans to expand its contingency-fee practice with the launch of a division that focuses on the high risk/reward fee arrangement. Kirkland has represented over 100 plaintiff-side cases on a pure contingency basis over the past decade, and now seeks to expand that number by as much as 10x.
International law firm Pinsent Masons has agreed an innovative £25m litigation funding facility with the UK’s largest* litigation and disputes funder Augusta Ventures. The unique arrangement offers clients the benefit of a dedicated facility at preferred rates, including a fast-tracked due diligence process and transparent commercial terms.
