Bentham IMF Ltd Chiefs Named Innovators in Commercial Litigation Finance
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Hugh McLernon and John Walker, founders of Bentham IMF Ltd, have been named the innovators of commercial litigation finance by The American Lawyer Magazine. Featured in an article on “The Top 50 Innovators in Big Law in the Last 50 Years”, McLernon and Walker are recognized as pioneering the model for commercial litigation funding in a country that bars lawyers from taking contingency fees and where courts impose adverse costs at the conclusion of a trial. In the Australian legal environment third party funding became an important tool to promote access to justice for those who could not afford the high costs of litigation or who wanted their cases managed professionally by a team of former litigators. Clive Bowman, another founder of Bentham IMF Ltd, says, “Litigation funding has become a valuable part of our legal environment.” Independently of each other, McLernon and Walker each started litigation funding firms in the late 1990s and came together in 2001 to found Bentham IMF Ltd, a public company on the Australian stock exchange that finances single cases as well as class actions. |
Hugh McLernon |
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Litigation funding has gained acceptance in Australia because it is seen as promoting access to justice. Although Bentham IMF Ltd rejects 97% of the cases that they evaluate for funding, they have aided hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people through the funding of class actions as well as single party cases. Bentham IMF Ltd has taken its model of commercial litigation funding outside of Australia. Through its subsidiary Bentham IMF, there are now offices in New York and Los Angeles. Prior to the mid-20th century, champerty – the third party funding of lawsuits – was rarely permitted in the US courts. Now that the state rulings on champerty have been relaxed and alternative litigation funding is allowed in most states, Bentham IMF Ltd is directly extending the opportunity of financing litigation to those in the United States. |
John Walker |
