Legal Funding Journal

Omni Bridgeway Backs Australian Class Action Targeting Johnson & Johnson A class action was recently filed in the Federal Court of Australia, targeting Johnson & Johnson over allegations that a number of its oral cold and flu medications are ineffective when taken orally. The claim covers 20 separate products sold by Johnson & Johnson across three brands of medication: Codral, Sudafed, and Benadryl. An article in Lawyers Weekly covers the class action being brought by JGA Saddler, with funding for the case provided by Omni Bridgeway. The pharmaceutical giant is accused of falsely marketing and selling these products as effective treatments, with the claim seeking to represent any Australian customer who has bought one of these products since 2005. https://lnkd.in/en-CeS5f #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #legalfinance #legalfunding #litfin #classaction

Qanlex Refines its Latin America Strategy Speaking with América Economía, Qanlex - Litigation Finance’s general counsel for Latin America, Juliana Giorgi, emphasised that in order to gain a foothold in the competitive litigation funding market, the firm has leveraged “the development of technology.” Giorgi goes on to explain that its in-house software “searches for cases in judicial databases that might interest us due to the value of the claim or the nature of the process”, allowing Qanlex to find suitable claims to finance in the different countries it operates in. https://lnkd.in/eR2QJzWK #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #litfin #legaltech #legalfunding #legalfinance #LATAM

Litigation Funding Found to be “Not Relevant” in E. Jean Carroll’s Sexual Abuse and Defamation Case Against Donald Trump The Second Circuit upheld the $5 million verdict in Carroll v. Trump, rejecting President Trump’s claims of trial court errors, including the handling of litigation funding evidence. Trump’s legal team argued that litigation funding for E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit, provided by an anonymous nonprofit, was relevant to her credibility and potential bias. The court disagreed, emphasizing that such evidence had minimal probative value. As reported in Reason.com, the court noted that Carroll’s case was primarily taken on a contingency fee basis, with supplemental funding obtained by her legal team in 2020. Carroll had little involvement with the funding arrangement, learning about it after the fact and having no subsequent discussions with her counsel about it for years. The appellate court agreed with the trial court’s finding that Carroll’s lack of engagement with the funding made it irrelevant to assessing her credibility. https://lnkd.in/ek4Bce-Y #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #legalfinance #legalfunding #litfin

Emmerson PLC Obtains $11M in Funding for Moroccan Dispute Emmerson Plc, the mining company focused on the development of the Khemisset potash project in Morocco, has secured $11 million in legal funding for its dispute against the Moroccan government. As reported in Business Insider, Emmerson obtained the funding from an unnamed legal funder. The proceeds will be used to commence with arbitration proceedings, with white shoe law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP being appointed litigation counsel. https://lnkd.in/eZXRquVw #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #legalfinance #legalfunding #litfin #

Funders Assess Challenges and Opportunities in 2025 An article in Legal Business Magazine explains that the continued calls for tighter regulation and oversight of litigation finance were top of mind for many of the funders interviewed. This was particularly highlighted in the United States, where opposition to third-party funding was characterized by Therium Capital Management’s Neil Purslow as “a hostile approach to the industry from US corporates”. Matt Harrison of Omni Bridgeway and Dai Wai Chin Feman from Parabellum Capital were both clear in saying that the actual regulators are not inherently adversarial towards funders, with Feman stating that “there is a lot of noise but there is always noise” from those who would seek to restrict third-party funding. https://lnkd.in/ev3-jtJn #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #litfin #legalfunding #legalfinance

CJEU Judgment Prohibits Outside Investment in Law Firms A recent judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that EU member states can block law firms from accepting external investment in order to protect lawyers’ independence and comply with their professional obligations. The court found that EU directives governing the freedom of establishment and free movement of capital, “must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation” that prohibits third-party ownership of law firms. Reporting in Legal Futures explains that the ruling arose following preliminary questions submitted by a German court which was overseeing a dispute between law firm Halmer Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft and the Rechtsanwaltskammer München (Munich Bar Association). Halmer had informed the Munich Bar Association that it had sold 51 of its 100 shares to an Austrian company called SIVE Beratung und Beteiligung GmbH (SIVE). The bar association responded by informing HR that the transfer of shares was prohibited under the German Federal Lawyers’ Code, and subsequently revoked Halmer’s registration with the bar association. https://lnkd.in/eqfg7uC6 #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #legalfinance #legalfunding #litfin

A major CAT ruling impacts a £1.3bn claim, Ares invests in Omni Bridgeway's portfolio, and expert insights from our Virtual Town Hall. Catch up on the latest litigation finance news in our weekly newsletter. #legalfunding #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #litfin #legalfinance

Sandfield Capital Secures £600m Facility to Expand Funding Operations Sandfield Capital, a Liverpool-based litigation funder, has reached an agreement for a £600 million facility with Perspective Investments. The investment, which is conditional on the identification of suitable claims that can be funded, has been secured to allow Sandfield Capital to strategically expand its operations and the number of claims it can fund. An article in Insider Media covers the the fourth capital raise in the last 12 months for Sandfield Capital, with LFJ having previously covered the most recent £10.5 million funding facility that was secured last month. Since its founding in 2020, Sandfield Capital has already expanded from its original office in Liverpool with a footprint established in London as well. Steven D'Ambrosio, chief executive of Sandfield Capital, celebrated the announced by saying: “This new facility presents significant opportunities for Sandfield and is testament to our business model. Key to our strategy to deploy the facility is expanding our legal panel. There’s no shortage of quality law firms specialising in this area and we are keen to develop further strong and symbiotic relationships. Perspective Investments see considerable opportunities and bring a wealth of experience in institutional investment with a strong track record.” https://lnkd.in/gE5wnAtV #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #litfin #legalfinance #legalfunding

Australian Google Ad Tech Class Action Commenced on Behalf of Publishers A class action was filed on 16 December 2024 on behalf of QNews Pty Ltd and Sydney Times Media Pty Ltd against Google LLC, Google Pte Ltd and Google Australia Pty Ltd (Google). The class action has been commenced to recover compensation for Australian-domiciled website and app publishers who have suffered financial losses as a result of Google’s misuse of market power in the advertising technology sector. The alleged loss is that publishers would have had significantly higher revenues from selling advertising space, and would have kept greater profits, if not for Google’s misuse of market power. The class action is being prosecuted by Piper Alderman with funding from Woodsford. https://lnkd.in/gycMJvWw #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #litfin #legalfinance #legalfunding #classaction

Report Highlights ‘Substantial Benefits’ of Litigation Funding for Consumer Justice The following was contributed by Tom Webster, Chief Commercial Officer for Sentry Funding. Litigation funding provides ‘substantial benefits’ to claimant organisations, and robust funding mechanisms are ‘essential’ to secure justice for consumers, an authoritative report found last month. The report, Justice Unchained, by European consumer organisation BEUC - The European Consumer Organisation also found many of the common criticisms of litigation funding were not backed up by evidence. The study found that consumer organisations across Europe face significant financial challenges to starting collective redress actions. It noted that initiating a collective action is ‘complex, risky, and expensive’, often involving lengthy proceedings that need significant resources. See below for the full article. https://lnkd.in/gdNrDNnM #litigationfinance #litigationfunding #litfin #legalfinance #legalfunding #collectiveredress