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Commercial Special Features

Member Spotlight: Davide De Vido

By John Freund |

Davide De Vido is an Italian lawyer with more than 20 years of experience in commercial litigation. In 2019, Davide has created FiDeAL® with the aim to import the tool of litigation funding in Italy and democratize access to justice for every individual, company or entity to pursue meritorious disputes.

Prior to foundingFiDeAL, Davide was the General Counsel of a large Italian construction firm, and then of an international eyewear firm.

Company name and description:

FiDeAL® is the first Italian litigation finance consultancy company, and it is also specialized in managing and funding small/mid-sized disputes.

FiDeAL® is focused on Italian litigation – disputes that involves an Italian party and/or Italian jurisdiction – but not limited to them. In fact, during its activity, FiDeAL® has supported several Clients, and their law firms, in finding the right funding solutions for international disputes (arbitration and judicial claims).

Recently, FiDeAL® has enlarged its services range, offering litigation insurance consultancy and W&I’s consultancy for M&A transactions too.

FiDeAL® is also developing two more projects: (i) the creation of a business angel community dedicated to financing small/mid-sized disputes and (ii) a LegalTech project.

Company website: Litigation Funding o Finanziamento della lite | FiDeAL

Year Founded: 2019

Headquarters: via Venezia, 59 – 31020 San Vendemiano (TV), Italy

Area of focus: FiDeAL® works indiscriminately with individual, company and other entities. It offers advice and support to find finance or insurance solutions for a wide range of disputes: Commercial litigation, Class and collective action lawsuits, Personal injuries, Intellectual property, Environmental litigation, Antitrust and competition law, Construction dispute, Real estate litigation, securities litigation, Enforcement award and so on.

Member quote: “Funders often say that litigation funding is useful for pursuing David vs. Goliath disputes. Who better than me (Davide) can recognize the value of this statement?”

“With the UN’s 2030 Agenda, litigation funding can ensure access to justice for all and can contribute to achieving Goal 16 for more sustainable justice.”

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John Freund

John Freund

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Commercial Deals

iLA Law Firm Expands Services to Include Litigation Funding Agreements

By Harry Moran |

As the relationship between litigation funders and law firms continues to grow intertwined, we are not only seeing funders getting more involved in the ownership of law firms, but also specialist law firms looking to provide their own niche litigation funding services.

An article in Legal Futures covers the expansion of iLA into the business of litigation funding agreements, with the Poole-based law firm providing this new service offering to a range of clients from individuals to SMEs. iLA’s co-founder and chief finance officer, Luke Baldwin, explained that one aspect of the law firm’s litigation funding service includes work on matrimonial cases, providing funding of between £25,000 to £75,000 to individual clients. Other examples include funding for disputes brought by SMEs over ‘undisclosed commissions on energy contracts’, or individuals with claims relating to car finance agreements.

iLA was founded in March 2022 by Mr Baldwin and Anastasia Ttofis, with both co-founders having previously worked together on their Bournemouth-based brokerage business, Niche Specialist Finance. Since its launch, iLA has grown from servicing 13 clients in its first month to providing independent legal advice to between 600 and 700 clients. iLA’s growth has been bolstered by a series of partnerships with other solicitors, brokers and lenders, including a partnership with the specialist mortgage lender, Keystone Property Finance.

Announcements Commercial People Moves

ALFA Welcomes Mackay Chapman as Newest Associate Member

By Harry Moran |

In a post on LinkedIn, The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia (ALFA) announced that it is welcoming Mackay Chapman as its newest Associate Member. Mackay Chapman becomes the 12th Associate Member of ALFA, following the inclusion of Litica in April of this year.

Mackay Chapman is a boutique legal and advisory firm, specialising in high-stakes regulatory, financial services and insolvency disputes. The Melbourne-based law firm was founded in 2016 by Dan Mackay and Michael Chapman, who bring 25 years of experience in complex disputes to the business.More information about Mackay Chapman can be found on its website.

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Case Developments Commercial

Deminor Announces Settlement in Danish OW Bunker Case

By Harry Moran |

An announcement from Deminor Litigation Funding revealed that a settlement has been reached in the OW Bunker action in Demark, which Deminor funded litigation brought by a group of 20 institutional investors against the investment banks Carnegie and Morgan Stanley.

This is part of a wider group of actions originating from OW Bunker’s 2014 bankruptcy, which led to significant financial losses for both company creditors and shareholders who had invested in the company. These other cases were brought against several defendants, including OW Bunker and its former management and Board of Directors, Altor Fund II, and the aforementioned investment banks.

The settlement provides compensation for plaintiffs across the four legal actions, with a total value of approximately 645 million DKK, including legal costs. The settlement agreement requires the parties to ‘waive any further claims against each other relating to OW Bunker’. Deminor’s announcement makes clear that ‘none of the defendants have acknowledged any legal responsibility in the group of linked cases in connection with the settlement.’

Charles Demoulin, Chief Investment Officer of Deminor, said that “the settlement makes it possible for our clients to benefit from a reasonable compensation for their losses”, and that they were advising the client “to accept this solution which represents a better alternative to continuing the litigation with the resulting uncertainties.” Joeri Klein, General Counsel Netherlands and Co-head Investment Recovery of Deminor, said that the settlement had demonstrated that “in Denmark it has now proven to be possible to find a balanced solution to redress investor related claims.”