Every good law student, and indeed litigation funder, knows that it is a maxim of English law that if there is a conflict between the common law and equity, equity will prevail. The judicial approach to litigation funding has largely been shaped by the motivations of those parties who either have funded cases or have been the beneficiaries of such funding.
The Parliamentary inquiry into litigation funding and class actions announced earlier this year seeks to ensure fair and equitable outcomes for claimants and group members. As a pioneer of the industry and largest funder in Australia, Omni Bridgeway fully supports these aims. Part of our business is to provide finance and access to justice to claimants and group members in class actions who lack the resources to pursue complex and costly disputes.
A pair of recent legal developments involving the United Arab Emirates should significantly enhance the ability of parties seeking to enforce judgments from this important Middle Eastern business hub.
The claimants in the ‘Alucobond’ cladding class action had a significant victory in court last week. The claimants, which include the bodies corporate of residential apartment buildings plus local councils, are bringing the product liability class action against the manufacturers of ‘Alucobond’ PE core cladding products, being the German company, 3A Composites GmbH and the Australian company, Halifax Vogel Group Pty Ltd. The action has been brought in the Federal Court of Australia under consumer protection laws.
Omni Bridgeway is funding a talented interdisciplinary artist and her design studio to gain a declaration of copyright ownership in Singapore in respect of high quality photographs they produced of a number of luxury hotels and, through proceedings in the US, seek damages for their extensive infringement on a variety of third party commercial websites over the last decade.
Our client, an infrastructure construction company, concluded an agreement with an African state (via its Ministry for Works) to rehabilitate a roadway between two major cities.
We funded a US$8.75 million claim by a major Japanese trading house, who found themselves in a dispute with Mexican steel company AHMSA (Altos Hornos de Mexico S.A) after AHMSA entered administration and failed to pay for Roll Grinding equipment.
Having exhausted all avenues to enforce a favorable Award and recover monies owed by a parastatal of the Republic of Uzbekistan an exasperated Turkish construction company turned to Omni Bridgeway to devise and execute a recovery plan.
Our clients invested in the development of an oil pipeline in a Eurasian State. Following a dispute between them and the State, they sought arbitration in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and were awarded two Awards totaling US$100 million to be paid by the State.
We are funding a large public pension fund in an opt-out securities litigation, pending in Quebec, regarding alleged price gouging and fictitious accounting.
We are financing a claim by Canadian start-up Paycase Global Corp against TMX Group, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, for terminating a deal to create cryptocurrency-related products and services.
We are financing World Media Holdings s.a.l., a Lebanon-based movie theatre developer and operator in its claim against IMAX Corporation, a global entertainment giant, to pursue damages for more than CAD$140.5 million.
We funded a claim by Birbilis Bros Pty Ltd against Chubb Fire and Security relating to the re-engagement of a fire sprinkler system which resulted in water damage to two machines used by Birbilis.
We are currently funding a Canadian dispute related to the intellectual property and licensing of pipeline technology in the oil and gas sector in Canada and the US.
More than 5000 'Mums and Dads' investors placed their savings into the SEAS Sapfor forestry scheme in South Australia. The scheme was administered by companies that became part of the Gunns group, with Australian Executor Trustees (SA) Ltd (a subsidiary of the listed IOOF Group) acting as security trustee.
We are funding (with funding participation by another entity) a class action on behalf of around 6,500 people seeking compensation for financial loss or damage caused by the negligent operation of the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams in the lead up to and during the January 2011 flood in Brisbane, Queensland.
Class action in Australia by shareholders against leading medical device company alleging misleading statements and non-disclosures related to earnings and dose sales growth, and that CEO engaged in inappropriate share trading activities, causing loss and damage to shareholders. Claim settled for A$40 million in August 2019.
