Another year, another leap forward for commercial litigation funding: as we predicted at the end of 2017, the industry’s rapid growth continued unabated in 2018. The year was marked by story after story covering the growth of litigation funds as an attractive alternative investment class.
Leading litigation funder IMF Bentham Limited has returned to the UK/EU with the launch of its subsidiary IMF EMEA. IMF EMEA is based in London and staffed by highly experienced alumni. It is headed by Oliver Gayner and includes Jeremy Marshall and Alistair Croft.
In May 2018, British Columbia modernized its International Commercial Arbitration Act by largely adopting the 2006 amendments to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.
IMF’s funds under management have increased to over A$1B. The new fund positions the company to substantially grow its US team and offer the resources needed to address market need and make larger investments.
The litigators at Bentham IMF’s Toronto office do not have traditional legal jobs. And so, it’s fitting that they do not work in a traditional law office. Instead, the open concept brick-and-beam space represents a different approach. “As soon as I walked in here I knew this would be a creative, innovative and fun place to work,” says Bentham lawyer Paul Rand.
Litigation funding can play an important role in bankruptcy reorganization. Learn how you can benefit from this non-traditional form of exit-financing.
The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia confirmed this week that only one of three competing class actions against GetSwift Limited may proceed. This ruling is significant for the Australian class action landscape and is the first time the Full Court has ruled on competing class actions. The Full Court said that guidance was required on the factors to be considered and the options open to judges when dealing with competing ‘open’ class actions.
The approaching end of the calendar year means that it’s officially announcement season for big law firms, as associates will learn what year-end bonuses they can expect, and a select few top senior associates will learn if they’ve earned the biggest bonus of all: partnership status.
When a company is considering whether to commence litigation, it will typically assess both the “soft” and “hard” factors at play/Lorsqu'une entreprise songe à intenter un recours judiciaire, elle évalue généralement les facteurs « intangibles » et les facteurs « tangibles » en jeu.
Corporate legal departments are in the midst of a transformation. They are embracing operational efficiencies and building teams that allow for the insourcing of legal matters traditionally handled by outside counsel.
IMF Bentham Ltd's Oliver Gayner discusses the origins of dispute finance in Australia in the mid-1990s and its subsequent growth in many jurisdictions around the world, where it is now an integral part of civil justice, providing a means of facilitating access to justice and offlaying litigation risk.
IMF Bentham Limited’s Cheng-Yee Khong participated in a number of exciting events at this year’s Hong Kong Arbitration Week, including serving as a judge at the Arbitration Debate 2018, speaking at a MARC event and attending the Arbitration Charity Ball.
IMF Bentham Ltd’s Noah Wortman attended the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) Fall Conference in NYC in late October. CII’s Fall Conference brought many of the world’s institutional investors, regulators, and ESG professionals together under one roof to discuss and debate topics surrounding investment stewardship, public policy, corporate governance, and shareholder activism.
The best approach to funding follows the “Golden Rule” of applying for litigation financing: tell your prospective funder everything that you would want to know if you were in the funder’s shoes.
Justice Bernard Murphy has said he would like to trial costs budgeting in proceedings currently on foot in the Federal Court in Victoria. During a procedural hearing in two shareholder class actions against Brambles Limited(1), the judge said that he would like to trial an adoption of UK-style costs budgeting, as outlined by Sir Rupert Jackson at a recent conference in Melbourne, co-sponsored by IMF Bentham Limited.
Videos are now available from the successful IMF Bentham Limited and University of New South Wales National Class Actions Conference held in Melbourne on 25 September 2018.
IMF Bentham Ltd’s Nathan Landis participated in the inaugural Darwin Arbitration Symposium, held in Darwin on 24 October. The Symposium, hosted by William Forster Chambers in Darwin, was the first arbitration event held in the Northern Territory. During the session dealing with third-party funding, Nathan discussed the steps to obtain financing, and described how to prepare a matter for funding, including the types of documents that should be provided.
