Blog

Please join us in welcoming litigators Fiona Chaney and Daniela Raz to Bentham IMF’s investment team!

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.

Watch the videos from the event.

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.

Bentham’s litigation funding agreements have been the subject of three recent class action decisions. Learn more:

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.

Bentham IMF is pleased to announce the publication of its guidebook on the key issues related to commercial litigation finance.

Key issues in class action litigation were debated at an important conference presented under the auspices of the IMF Bentham Class Actions Research Initiative with UNSW Law. Watch the videos from the event.

Recent proposed changes to the rules governing investment treaty arbitrations demonstrate the growing use and evolution of third party funding in international arbitration.

IMF Bentham Limited has announced it is proposing to fund a potential class action seeking compensation for property owners of certain buildings throughout Australia that have a highly combustible and therefore potentially dangerous external cladding. Law firm William Roberts will act for claimants in the action.

IMF Bentham Limited’s Ewen McNee was delighted to participate in the Superannuation Fund Investment Operations Forum 2018, held in Sydney on 22-23 October. The forum, presented by International Business Review, was the 5th annual Superfund Back Office conference.

Bentham IMF Investment Manager, Ken Epstein, joined Howard Brownstein, President and CEO of Brownstein Co. and Cathy Reece, financial restructuring, bankruptcy and creditors' rights practice group chair at Fennemore Craig, to discuss litigation finance in a Debtwire podcast airing on October 25, 2018.