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Third party
Strong support from UK public for consumer class actions, while half back third-party funding
There is strong public support for collective consumer actions in the UK, new research has found, although most want it, and any third-party litigation funding that supports a case, to be subject to controls – many of which already exist here.
Third-party funder backs major potential claim against patent renewal business
The London office of an American law firm, together with a Jersey firm, have secured litigation finance to investigate and possibly sue CPA Global over alleged systematic and widespread overcharging of clients for patent renewal services.
UK well ahead of USA in use of litigation finance, survey finds
The UK is well ahead of the USA in the litigation finance, a survey of law firms and in-house lawyers has found, with 41% of UK respondents having used, compared to only 32% in the US and 40% in Australia. The company did caution that some of the figures appeared out of kilter with reality, however.
Half of insolvency practitioners say litigation has decreased since LASPO change
Almost half of insolvency practitioners believe that litigation work has declined since removal of the exemption from LASPO in April 2016, a survey has found. The remaining half of the 225 insolvency practitioners who took part in the survey said there had been “no noticeable difference”.
Burford ramps up portfolio finance activity with first UK firm deal
Burford Capital has agreed a “multi-million pound” portfolio financing agreement with Shepherd & Wedderburn, which it said is the first of its kind to be offered by a top 100 UK law firm and major funder. The deal provides flexible capital that Shepherd & Wedderburn can use “to expand its ability to offer alternative fee arrangements to clients and grow the firm’s reach in commercial litigation and arbitration”.
Burford posts “best ever” interim results
Litigation funder Burford Capital has announced its strongest ever results, with profits for the first half of 2017 greater than the whole of 2016, driven by rising client demand. Highlights from the financial results for the year ended 30 June 2017 included an increase in income by 130% to $175.5m (£133.5m), and operating profit up by 151% to $155m.
Tribunal throws out largest-ever class action but gives boost to third-party funding
The Competition Appeal Tribunal last week threw out what would have been the largest opt-out collective action since the procedure was introduced – but at the same time gave a boost to third-party funders by dismissing objections to the funding agreement. Under it, Burford Capital was set to receive at least £135m in the event of a successful outcome.
QC proposes ‘no disclosure’ rule for arbitrations
Arbitrations should begin with a default position of no disclosure of documents, a leading QC has argued. Peter Rees QC said for many disputes, each side had “all the documents it needs” and disclosure was a “time-consuming and expensive luxury”.
Hausfeld and Burford join scramble for truck cartel clients
US class action law firm Hausfeld has struck a deal with top litigation funder Burford Capital to support the claim it is bringing in England against truck manufacturers found guilty of illegal price fixing, the second major announcement of funded litigation over the cartel in a month.
Neuberger indicates support for contingent legal aid fund
The president of the Supreme Court has indicated his support for some form of contingent legal aid fund (CLAF), using third-party litigation funders as a model. The idea of the CLAF has been debated for decades and is currently being examined by a working party, set up at the urging of Lord Justice Jackson.
Blog
Hands up who knows what litigation financiers sell?
If your answer was ‘money’, you would be correct but sadly out of step with the prevailing thinking. If, however, you asked some other litigation financiers the same question, you would very likely receive answers like ‘project management skills’, or ‘an experienced litigation partner’. Whilst none of these answers are wrong per se, they do rather miss the point of why lawyers and clients engage with funders. Experienced and successful litigators do not want the views of litigation financiers on how to project manage their litigation – they want access to their cash pure and simple.
October 19th, 2017
Associate News
FCA regulation for litigation funders – it should be the law
ATE insurance in action – successful £5m professional negligence judgment for ‘Giambrone’ claimants
ATE Market Instability
Phoenix Legal benefits from smoother case progression with Eclipse Compact, the legal software solution for small law firms
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