The Soros Economic Development Fund has issued a £5MM investment into Aristata Capital. This brings Aristata’s total fundraise to well over £40MM. The firm has been established to protect social change projects and the environment.
Researchers around the world are providing examples of litigation finance becoming an increasingly important asset class. This, as investors are on the hunt for high return opportunities with compounding portfolio effects.
Erasmus Law Review hosts white papers from 10 of Europe’s top legal finance scholars. The library highlights major developments and barriers to litigation financiers.
Omni Bridgeway, Deminor and Nivalion AG have teamed up to organize the launch of the European Litigation Funders Association (ELFA). Tasked with helping expand legal finance innovation across Europe, ELFA will represent industry best practices before international governments and legal associations.
The following piece was contributed by Lillian Rizio and Max Hensen of Australian law firm, Piper Alderman.
The Full Federal Courts’ decision in Parkin v Boral Limited (Class Closure) [2022] FCAFC 47 (Parkin) confirms the courts’ power to issue pre-mediation (and settlement) soft class closure notices to group members. The decision hints at the (positive) appetite of the Federal Court in making future orders for class closure that facilitate a just outcome,[1] simplifies the assessment of quantum prior to settlement, and reduces an element of risk in funded litigation.
Legal Bay, The Lawsuit Settlement Funding Company, announced today that on June 15, 2022, its recent New Jersey State Court lawsuit filing against Mustang Legal Funding and its principals has been removed to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Vicinage, by the Mustang Entities, James Beltz, and Kevin Cavanaugh. The case now bears the following docket name: Legal Bay LLC v. Mustang Funding LLC, et al., No. 22-cv-3941 (ES) (JBC). The matter has been assigned to District Judge Esther Salas and Magistrate Judge James B. Clark, III.
DLA Piper today announces a new partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) that will see the two organisations working collaboratively to develop innovative responses to the global refugee crisis, enhance refugee integration and advocate for impactful, systemic change. During the first three years, DLA Piper will provide pro bono support worth over $3.7m and contribute financially to the agency’s global programmes.
Litigation funding specialists, Apex Litigation Finance have announced the appointment of Stephen Allinson, Solicitor and Licensed Insolvency Practitioner, as their new Head of Legal.
Mastercard and Visa are no strangers to legal action, having endured class actions and legal challenges all over the world. Currently, a collective action funded by Bench Walk Advisors accuses the credit giant of illegally overcharging Multilateral Interchange Fees (MIFs) in the UK.
Omni Bridgeway (ASX:OBL), the world’s largest legal risk finance and management team, is pleased to announce new appointments in its Asia Pacific leadership team.
The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) today announced it will host its first annual International Legal Finance Conference on Monday, October 24, 2022, at the prestigious Morgan Library in New York City.
Six producers of big rigs have allegedly conspired in a 14-year scheme to defraud government regulators over emissions mandates. The Competition Appeal Tribunal has approved a £2B claim marking a historic first for United Kingdom collective actions. The Road Haulage Association (RHA) is representing an estimated 18,000 claimants as the beneficiaries of the hopeful award.
The following piece was contributed by Martin del Gallego and Matthew Harris of Australian law firm, Piper Alderman.
This article considers a recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia, awarding damages to class action claimants on an aggregate basis. Aggregate damages is a rare global award which covers all group members described or identified in the award. This was the first instance of aggregate damages being awarded to a funded litigant in Australia, and may spur a trend in representative claims brought on this basis.
Leading litigation funder Validity Finance announced it has expanded to California, adding experienced litigator Mark Chen as portfolio counsel in Los Angeles. Mr. Chen was previously special counsel with Covington & Burling in LA, representing clients in complex commercial disputes, including major intellectual property cases in the entertainment sector. In his new role, he will help assess Validity’s funding opportunities with law firms and businesses in Southern California and the West Coast.
Bloomberg Law profiles Ashley Keller and Adam Gerchen as serial law entrepreneurs who have now raised $750M to fund the first secondary transaction litigation fund. Six years ago, Mr. Keller and Mr. Gerchen made headlines by selling their litigation finance firm for upwards of $160M to Burford Capital. Bloomberg Law reports that the secondary deal landscape for litigation finance is in its infancy. News of Keller and Gerchen’s new secondary market fund (under the banner of Gerchen Capital Partners) is being viewed as a signal of the maturing nature of litigation investment broadly.
The American Bar Association’s Commercial and Business Litigation Committee recently conducted a podcast interview featuring former federal prosecutor Kenneth Harmon and former litigation attorney Giugi Carminati, who discussed litigation finance and the wide range of benefits associated.
Victory Park Capital (“VPC”), a leading global alternative investment firm, today announced the additions of Chad Clamage, Principal, and Ahmed Eltamami, Vice President, to the firm’s investment team. Clamage and Eltamami are primarily responsible for sourcing, analyzing, executing and managing investments within legal finance. They will work closely with Luke Darkow, Principal, and Richard Levy, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer & Founder, who leads the legal finance strategy at VPC.
The Litigation Finance Podcast features guests from across the global commercial and consumer litigation funding landscapes. With over 60 podcasts spanning five years of archives, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the five top podcasts in terms of viewer traffic.
On the latest episode of the LFJ Podcast, we spoke with Erik Bomans, CEO and Executive Board Member of Deminor. Mr. Bomans discussed recent developments and trends in litigation funding in continental Europe, including what the total addressable market looks like and how that is expected to grow over time, how country-specific jurisdictions are differentiated, some of the main barriers to investing in litigation funding in Europe, and how the regulatory environment across the continent can actually be a benefit to funders.
The following piece was contributed by Eric Schuller, President of the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC).
Illinois becomes the latest State to bring proper regulation to the Consumer Legal Funding industry with the signing of SB 1099.
The following is a contributed piece from Rory Donadio, CEO of www.tribecalawsuitloans.com
There are many ways to look at what those of us in litigation funding do. Is it a pre-settlement cash advance or a non-recourse loan? Is it truly lending, or is it an investment? But far more important than what we call our work, is what we actually do. According to a September 2021 Bloomberg Law Litigation Finance Survey, 88% of the responding attorneys believe that litigation finance enables better access to justice.
Litigation Capital Management Limited (AIM:LIT), an alternative asset manager specializing in dispute financing solutions internationally, announces that it has entered into a litigation finance agreement for a new representative claim.
LegalPay is a Litigation Finance startup founded in India, an emerging market for third-party legal funding. Until recently, investing in legal cases was reserved for high-end investors. The advent of LegalPay allows retail investors—those of average means–to take advantage of the potentially large uncorrelated returns that have attracted savvy investors for years.
According to founder Kundan Shahi, LegalPay is the only formal player that offers third-party litigation funding for late-stage cases in India. One can’t help but wonder how this will influence the development of global Litigation Finance? Does LegalPay’s success foretell the rise of litigation funding in emerging markets?
The High Court has ruled in favour of shareholders in Walton & Anor v ACN 004 410 833 Ltd (formerly Arrium Limited) (in liq) & Ors. In a 3:2 decision, the majority permitted former shareholders of Arrium Ltd to examine the insolvent company’s officers under s 596A of the Corporations Act 2001 (‘CA’) for the purpose of potentially bringing a class action against the company’s managers.
Northleaf Capital Partners (Northleaf) today announced that it acted as the lead arranger of a A$250 million senior secured credit facility for Omni Bridgeway (ASX: OBL), a global leader in financing and managing legal risks, with expertise in civil and common law legal and recovery systems.
Nearing its fourth anniversary in June, leading litigation funder Validity Finance, announced the arrival of three senior members to its team including a new portfolio counsel for investment review, a new corporate counsel and a first-time marketing officer. Validity also reports the promotion of seven professionals in New York, Houston and Tel Aviv.
LFJ’s latest digital event featured Litigation Finance advisors Rebecca Berrebi (Founder and CEO, Avenue 33, LLC), Peter Petyt (Co-Founder, 4 Rivers Legal), Andrew Langhoff (Founder and Managing Director, Red Bridges Advisors), and moderator Ed Truant (Founder, Slingshot Capital). The panel discussed how they navigate between funders, law firms and claimants, as well as the challenges they face in this market, and the numerous benefits they provide each counter-party.
The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) today announced its new board of directors, executive committee members, and Chairman.
AmTrust Europe Limited, an insurance entity of AmTrust International, today announced the launch of a Fixed Limit ‘After the Event’ (fl.ATE) Insurance product for lower value commercial and civil legal claims.
The following is a contributed piece by Ed Truant, founder of Slingshot Capital, and Andrew Langhoff, founder of Red Bridges Advisors.
When we write about litigation finance, we often assume it is easily accessible and that plaintiffs undertake most of the ‘leg work’ to secure financing. In practice, litigation finance is often difficult to obtain, and plaintiffs typically rely quite heavily on their law firms to obtain it. This is a very different dynamic than one sees in other areas of financial services. And because law firms may not have the expertise and bandwidth to properly broker a litigation funding transaction, their involvement in the process may be unintentionally short-changing their clients. With some law firms now entering contractual “tie-up” or “best friends” arrangements with favored funders, we thought this an opportune time to consider the law firm’s proper role in the litigation funding process.
This article will explore common but unexamined efforts by law firms to deal with funders, the practical challenges posed and suggest a preferred approach for law firms and their clients.
