Third party

Litigation funder Vannin Capital has failed to obtain summary judgment of its £14m claim against RBS shareholders it backed who then successfully sued the bank.

Insolvency litigation funder Manolete is to raise £16.3m when it is admitted to AIM next week, it has announced. The selling shareholders will realise a further £13.1m.

An Australian third-party litigation funder is to join London’s AIM market in a bid to grow its business, it has announced. Meanwhile, Woodsford Litigation Funding has announced extra backing.

There is strong growth in the consideration and use of litigation finance in the UK, new research has found, with 63% of respondents saying their organisation’s use of it has increased in the last two years.

Top third-party funder Burford Capital has earmarked $50m (£38m) to finance cases led by women lawyers as part of a groundbreaking initiative designed to help close the gender gap in law by providing an “economic incentive for change”.

Lawyers and litigation funders would “by a considerable margin” be the main beneficiaries of any award in a representative action against Google over misuse of private data, the High Court has ruled in blocking the case going forward.

Burford Capital, the world’s largest litigation funder, has raised a further £193m ($250m) in less than 24 hours after an oversubscribed placing. The new shares were placed at 1850p, reflecting the extraordinary growth in the AIM-listed company’s share price.

A solicitor who sought to keep a longstanding client happy at the expense of another, when one provided the other with a loan to pursue High Court litigation, has been struck off. His actions were “a classic example of a solicitor departing from the complete integrity, probity and trustworthiness expected”.

Third-party litigation funder Vannin Capital has announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange next month. The existing shareholders are to make 25% of its stock available in a bid to raise £70m.

Data and privacy class action claims are likely to expand in future, with litigation funders attracted by lucrative returns driving the industry, according to a senior City disputes lawyer. There have already been several “very high-profile claims” recently relating to shareholder and competition claims.