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Multibillion Pound Claim Filed Against Sony Group

August 22, 2022

Multibillion Pound Claim Filed Against Sony Group

A claim against Sony Group was filed on 19 August 2022 in the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The claim is being brought on behalf of UK-based PlayStation users who have purchased digital games and/or add-on content from the PlayStation Store since 19 August 2016. The claim is being funded by Woodsford, the UK’s leading ESG, access to justice and litigation finance business. It’s alleged that Sony is breaching UK and EU competition law by abusing its dominant position resulting in consumers paying inflated prices for digital PlayStation games and add-on content. This standalone collective action is brought on behalf of an estimated 9 million potential class members. An application has been made to the CAT for a Collective Proceedings Order which if ordered will result in a single class representative representing all potential class members on an opt-out basis. The proposed class representative is consumer champion Alex Neill, Chief Executive of Resolver.co.uk. Alex’s team, funded by Woodsford, includes the law firm Milberg London LLP, economics experts at Berkeley Research Group LLC and barristers from Monckton Chambers. Woodsford’s Chief Executive Officer, Steven Friel, commented: “Woodsford’s ESG team is dedicated to holding big business to account when corporate wrongdoing causes loss to consumers and other stakeholders. We are proud to support Alex Neill’s case, helping deliver access to justice for millions of gamers. Our significant financial and professional resource is already backing UK class actions against train companies accused of overcharging, and shippers whose cartel behaviour is alleged to have inflated the price of cars. With the launch of this claim against Sony, and with more landmark cases being worked up, Woodsford is now clearly established as the most successful ESG and litigation finance business in this area of UK collective redress.” Further information on the claim and updates on its progress can be found at www.playstationyouoweus.com. About Woodsford Founded in 2010 and with a presence in London, New York, Brisbane, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, Woodsford is a leading ESG, access to justice and litigation finance business. Whether it is helping consumers achieve collective redress, ensuring that investors and universities are properly compensated when Big Tech infringes intellectual property rights, or helping shareholders in collaborative, escalated engagement up to and including litigation with listed companies, Woodsford is committed to ensuring the highest ESG standards while providing access to justice. Working globally with many of the world’s leading law firms, our legal experience, investment, business and technical expertise, in tandem with our significant financial muscle, makes us a powerful partner and a formidable adversary. Woodsford is a founder member of both the International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) and the Association of Litigation Funders of England & Wales (ALF), and a member of the International Corporate Governance Network. Woodsford continues to grow, and we welcome approaches from experienced litigation lawyers and other professionals who are interested in joining our team. For more information visit www.woodsford.com

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Counsel Financial Report Details $464 Million in Committed Capital Across 14 Transactions

Counsel Financial has published its Summer 2026 Litigation Finance Bi-Annual Report, documenting 14 transactions representing approximately $464 million in committed capital and more than $2 billion in underwritten case collateral over the reporting period.

According to Newswire, the report covers transactions the firm originated, underwrote, serviced, or monitored across mass torts, class actions, single-event personal injury, complex litigation, and specialty litigation portfolios. Capital came from eight alternative asset managers, three commercial banks, and additional specialty finance participants.

Mass torts accounted for 46% of collateral composition and class actions 30%, while alternative asset managers supplied 74% of capital provider participation. Featured transactions include a $110 million multi-participant delayed draw facility funded by a specialty finance firm alongside an alternative asset manager, and a $35 million commercial bank revolving facility.

The report frames the period as one in which two distinct pools of capital operated side by side in contingent-fee litigation. "Bank capital and fund capital are both active in this space right now, and they come in with different mandates, different diligence requirements, and different reporting expectations," said Nicholas D'Aquilla, President of Counsel Financial. "What this period showed us is that both need the same underlying capability. Someone must underwrite the collateral, monitor it, and report on it to an institutional standard. That is the role we play across the market, regardless of who is funding the transaction."

Counsel Financial has deployed more than $2 billion over 25 years of lending to plaintiffs' firms. The bi-annual disclosure offers an uncommon window into how institutional capital is being structured around contingent-fee portfolios, and into the underwriting and reporting infrastructure that banks and funds alike now expect from the asset class.

Commercial

Legal AI Startup Aavalynx Raises £1.5M to Cut the Cost of Corporate Disputes

Aavalynx, a legal AI platform for analyzing litigation portfolios and dispute economics, has raised £1.5 million in pre-seed funding to help companies cut legal spend and make earlier, data-driven decisions about their disputes.

As reported by Tech.eu, the round was led by European firm Omega Ventures, with participation from West Coast-based Two Ravens and angel investors including senior law firm partners and a former head of Amazon Europe. Founded in 2023 and commercially live since 2024, the company counts Vodafone among its co-development partners.

The platform functions as a central repository that structures and interrogates dispute data at scale, giving organizations the visibility to intervene earlier and shift from reactive to proactive litigation management. Founder and CEO Hanna Roos — who spent nearly two decades in disputes at Freshfields, Latham & Watkins, and Quinn Emanuel — said early results show roughly 30x return on investment in saved damages and legal fees, rising to 200x when rescued commercial opportunities are included. "Good tools make disputes efficient, but great ones make them disappear," she said.

For the litigation finance community, tools that quantify and de-risk dispute portfolios sit close to home. As funders and corporates increasingly treat litigation as an asset class, data-driven portfolio analysis of the kind Aavalynx offers could sharpen how claims are valued, selected, and managed.

Commercial

Ignite Specialty Risk Enters Australian Market with Sydney Hire

Ignite Specialty Risk, the London-headquartered litigation insurance specialist, has entered the Australian market, opening Sydney-based operations to address a gap in local litigation-insurance capacity long dominated by a single provider.

As reported by Insurance Business, the move is anchored by the appointment of Lucinda Stormont-Sainsbury as head of Australian operations. She brings 15 years across underwriting, claims, private practice, and insurance law, having previously served as senior legal counsel at HDI Global SE and been named Insurance Lawyer of the Year 2026 at the Australian Corporate Counsel Awards.

The Sydney office will offer after-the-event (ATE) insurance, litigation risk insurance, and contingent risk insurance — products increasingly used by funders, law firms, and corporates to transfer the financial consequences of adverse legal outcomes. "Australia is a sophisticated insurance market with an increasingly complex risk landscape," Stormont-Sainsbury said, pointing to demand for specialist solutions.

Ignite has written more than US$2 billion in litigation capital across international markets since launching in 2022, including US$360 million in U.S. policies in 2024 covering litigation assets valued at over US$5 billion. Chief underwriting officer David Green cited the firm's "long-term commitment to the market."

The expansion adds a second major player to Australia's litigation-insurance sector and reflects the broader convergence of insurance and litigation finance, as risk-transfer tools become central to how funded claims are structured and de-risked.