The following article was contributed by John J. Hanley, Partner at Rimon Law.  Litigation financing is on the rise in the United States and provides some claimants a valuable means for paying the costs of pursuing a legal claim. Lawyer involvement in litigation financing transactions raises many ethical issues for a lawyer such as competence, duty of loyalty, the potential waiver of privilege and interference by a third party, to name a few.

Last week, Litigation Finance Journal held a special digital event on the evolution of corporate portfolio funding. How has portfolio funding evolved over the years? Why have corporates been slow to adopt the practice? How is COVID impacting that adoption rate? And what can funders do to convince corporates that the benefits of portfolio funding outweigh any perceived drawbacks?

Day two of of the two-day event saw a trio of panels that covered topics such as investment strategy and risk management, the interplay between fund types, and litigation finance as a tool for ESG.

Day one of the two-day 2021 LF Dealmakers conference has officially concluded. The day included a keynote address from Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, six panel discussions, and a host of networking opportunities.

The LF Dealmakers conference kicked off this morning with a keynote address from Judge Shira A. Scheindlin. The address was titled “Litigation Finance: Survey of a Shifting Landscape,” and covered four main issues: ethics, fee sharing, disclosure regulations and privileged communications between funder and attorneys.

On the most recent episode of the Litigation Finance Podcast, Cesar Bello, Partner and Deputy General Counsel of Corbin Capital, explained how he evaluates litigation finance investments, what his ROI expectations are, and how funders can mitigate risk. Below are some key takeaways from the discussion.

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. 

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. 

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. 

The following piece was contributed by Eric Schuller, President of the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC).  Consumer Legal Funding is when a company provides funds to a consumer who has a pending legal claim, typically a car accident, while their case is making its way through the legal system. The funds are used for household needs such as mortgage, rent, car payments, keeping the light on and putting food on the table. The funds are not used to pay for legal fees associated with the claim or case.

The following article was contributed by J-P Pitt, Investment Manager at Asertis.  Stating the obvious, the principal reason a funder chooses to fund enforcement, as with every aspect of litigation funding, is to receive more at the end than is paid at the beginning. In practical terms, enforcement extends beyond being purely a legal process. Much of it involves practical project management, where litigation is one of two key workstreams. The other is influence or persuasion – communications or PR. These two elements are entirely complementary and complimentary.

The following piece is a contribution by Charles W. Price, CEO of Capital Now Funding, LLC.  The following scenario was once all too common – plaintiffs injured in an accident, waiting impatiently for a complex lawsuit to settle. With the clock ticking and the plaintiff often unable to work, there was little they could do except wait for the phone to ring while medical and other bills kept piling up. Meanwhile, their attorneys must candidly tell them that it will be weeks to months or years before they might receive their settlement money.

Louise Trayhurn, Executive Director of Legis Finance, sat down with LFJ to discuss a broad range of industry topics, including Legis’ bespoke approach to managing client relationships, the various funding and insurance products her company offers, the growing trend of GCs and CFOs extracting more value out of their legal assets, and what trends she predicts for the future of the industry.

The following article was contributed by Eric Schuller, President of the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC). The classification of Consumer Legal Funding as a loan is more than mere semantics. Consumer Legal Funding is the purchase of an asset; that being a portion of the proceeds of the consumer’s legal claim. This form of investment allows the consumer to access much needed support in order to obtain the financial assistance they need while their claim is making its way through the system. You may ask yourself, so why does this matter?

The following article was contributed by John Hanley and Douglas Schneller of Rimon Law, P.C.  An issue that keeps some litigation funders up at night concerns the possibility of a claimant filing for bankruptcy after receiving funding and before their underlying case is resolved.  Proceeds from the case may become property of the bankruptcy estate and made available to the transferor’s creditors.  A carefully drafted litigation funding agreement (“LFA”) can increase the likelihood that the right to receive a portion of litigation proceeds is legally isolated (like the island in the picture above) and beyond the reach of the transferor’s creditors or a bankruptcy trustee.[1]

On Thursday December 17th, Litigation Finance Journal hosted a special 1-hour panel discussion on the major events impacting the commercial litigation funding industry. Panelists included Omni Bridgeway CEO Andrew Saker (AS), Therium Co-Founder and CIO Neil Purslow (NP), and LCM CEO Patrick Moloney (PM). The panel was moderated by Ed Truant (ET), founder of Slingshot Capital. Below are some highlights from the discussion.

2020 was a pivotal year for commercial litigation funding, and the industry approaches 2021 on the cusp of massive growth. Litigation Finance Journal is hosting a special digital conference which will cover the most impactful stories of the past year, and offer insights into what next year will bring.

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. 

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. 

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. 

This article was contributed by Eric Schuller, President of the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC). On October 1, 2020 the California Bar Association published Formal Opinion NO. 2020-204 on Third-Party Litigation Funding.

This article was contributed by Eric Schuller, President of the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC). On August 3, 2020, The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates, by a vote of 366-10, voted to adopt the resolution for “Best Practices for Third-Party Litigation Funding”. This established a slew of national guidelines that law firms, consumers and legal funding companies should follow.

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. 

The following was contributed by Matthew Pitchers, Head of Investment Valuation at Augusta Ventures.  I was in conversation the other day with a prospective user of our finance – a law firm who will remain nameless. The conversation was going well, very well in fact, until those seven words came up: “what is it going to cost me?”. I replied that our fee would be based on the higher of a multiple on the funds deployed or a set percentage of damages awarded. After a few seconds of silence which felt like an eternity, the response I got back was “that is very expensive, and I don’t think my client will go for it”.

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.