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Third-party Funding in the Middle East: A Step-by-step Process

By Marla Decker

Lake Whillans closely follows developments around the world related to third-party funding. As third-party funding becomes mainstream in jurisdictions like the U.K. and U.S., it is not surprising that other jurisdictions have begun to pass laws that expressly permit third-party funding, effectively recognizing the utility of third-party funding to claimholders, the lack of detrimental effect to a legal system, and the fact that third-party funding helps make the jurisdiction an attractive forum for resolving commercial disputes. Jurisdictions in the Middle East have recently followed the trend, and we asked Thomas Snider, Head of Arbitration for Al Tamimi & Company, the largest law firm in the Middle East, and his colleagues, Jane Rahman and Khushboo Shahdadpuri, to educate us on the status of third-party funding in the Middle East

Law Firm Portfolio Financing: A Primer On The Current State Of Ethical Considerations

By Garrett Ordower

Can law firms ethically take litigation funding secured by their anticipated fees? Litigation funding generally comes in two varieties — funding to a claimholder or funding to a law firm.  Last year, an advisory ethics opinion by the New York City Bar Association called into question the propriety of providing funding to a law firm…

2019 Litigation Finance Survey Report

Published by: Lake Whillans & Above The Law Introduction: As litigation finance increasingly becomes a widely accepted means of accessing capital, we continue to explore the perspective of practicing attorneys in this burgeoning field. Today, we are publishing findings from our second survey of practicing lawyers regarding litigation finance, which collected insights into questions such…

International Arbitration and Third Party Funding in Hong Kong: Q&A with the Secretary-General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre

By Marla Decker

As jurisdictions compete for status as premier international arbitration hubs, a differentiating factor (or, increasingly, a must-have factor) is whether the jurisdiction’s legal framework allows for third party funding in arbitrations seated there. We have followed the development towards a more permissive environment for third party funding in Asia closely, recently asking members of Freshfields’ international arbitration group to provide an update on developments in Asia with Singapore and Hong Kong leading the charge. Today, we focus in on Hong Kong, which on February 1, 2019, put into effect previously enacted legislative changes to permit third party funding in international arbitration. In connection with this development, the Ministry of Justice has released the Code of Practice for Third Party Funding of Arbitration, which sets out practices and standards with which third party funders are expected to comply in connection with funding of arbitrations in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) amended its rules to harmonize with the legislative changes and to address disclosure requirements, confidentiality, and costs in third party funded matters. We asked Sarah Grimmer, Secretary-General of HKIAC to discuss the changing landscape.

How to Choose A Litigation Funder

By Marla Decker

It’s 2019, and litigation finance is going to play prominently in the legal industry this year. Lawyers and claimholders increasingly desire the utility and flexibility of what litigation finance can offer. As demand for litigation funding has increased, so too has the number of litigation funders in the market. Some funders (like Lake Whillans) focus exclusively on litigation financing, while others have added litigation finance investments as part of a larger investment portfolio. The field has matured to the point that Chambers & Partners ranked litigation funders in the U.S. and U.K. last year. (Lake Whillans as a firm, and Lake Whillans co-founder Boaz Weinstein individually, each were ranked among the top bands in the 2018 Chambers rankings).

So if you are a claimholder, a lawyer seeking funding for your client or firm, or law firm management trying to differentiate between funders, how should you be analyzing the options? We suggest there are key differences among funders that you can use to compare:

Using Litigation Finance to Close the Gender Gap in Law

By Marla Decker

The advancement of women lawyers has been a discussion in the legal profession for decades, and one that I’ve followed closely. As a young associate, I was encouraged by the efforts underway at various firms to attract and promote women into senior positions. While women were admittedly underrepresented in leadership roles at law firms, the tide seemed about to shift.

Yea or Nay? What do litigators really think of Jury Consultants?

Published by: Lake Whillans & Above The Law | 2018 Introduction: In many respects, complex litigation is an arms race. Law firms win high stakes cases by leveraging every weapon at their disposal, from analytics to innovative financing. An important part of this litigator’s arsenal is jury and trial consulting. Today, consulting goes well beyond…

Acceleration Bay Work Product Decision

By Garrett Ordower

The latest work product decision in the litigation finance sphere — Acceleration Bay v. Activision Blizzard — bucks the near universal trend of courts finding that the work product doctrine shields disclosure of communications exchanged with an actual or prospective litigation funder. Probably because it used the wrong legal standard.

Litigation Finance:
In-house Perspective

Published by: Lake Whillans & Above The Law | March 2018 Download PDF Introduction: Litigation finance is rapidly becoming an important fixture of the legal industry. Corporate clients increasingly expect their in-house and outside counsel to understand the potential benefits of financing options and the nuances of the process. Seeking to dig deep into the…

Update: Rules Governing Disclosure of Litigation Finance

By Garrett Ordower

The U.S. Court’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules signaled in its recently released report that litigation finance continues “growing and evolving” and that considering potential rules mandating disclosure of funding arrangements must begin “if at all, by undertaking a careful quest for information that may be hard to come by.” That process will not proceed…