The Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales appoints Susan Dunn as Chair

By John Freund |

London 2 October 2019: The Association of Litigation Funders of England & Wales (“the ALF”) today announced the appointment of Susan Dunn as Chair at the ALF’s Annual General Meeting. Susan Dunn currently serves as a Director of the ALF and succeeds Leslie Perrin, following his expression of a desire to stand down this year after serving as Chair for almost 8 years.

Susan Dunn is one of the co-founders of Harbour Litigation Funding, one of the industry’s leading litigation funders.  Susan qualified as a solicitor in 1992 and has worked as a commercial litigator in both the United Kingdom and the United States where she was also a diplomat (Vice-Consul Investment) for the British Government.  Susan was central to the completion in 2011 of the Code of Conduct in England and Wales for Litigation Funders and the formation of the ALF in 2011.

Leslie Perrin said: “Susan is one of the pioneers of the litigation funding industry and she has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of how litigation funding can promote access to justice and facilitate the resolution of disputes. Under Susan’s leadership, the ALF will continue to be regarded as embodying the best practice gold standard of the litigation funding industry.”

Susan Dunn, Chair of ALF said: “It is an honour to take over the Chair of the ALF from Leslie, who took on the leadership of the ALF when it was formed in November 2011.  His work has ensured that our members adhere to the highest standards at a time of growth in litigation funding. I look forward to continuing to work with Leslie and all of my other colleagues in the industry, as well as the Government and regulators, and to ensure excellence in the provision of litigation and arbitration funding as the industry continues to grow and develop.”

The Association of Litigation Funders is an independent body that has been charged by the Ministry of Justice with delivering self-regulation of litigation funding in England and Wales.  Litigation funding is the provision by a third party of finance to a party to litigation or arbitration, which is used to pay for the legal costs of the dispute, in exchange for the funder taking a share of the proceeds in the event of a successful outcome.

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About the Association of Litigation Funders

The Association of Litigation Funders (the ALF) is an independent body that has been charged by the Ministry of Justice with delivering self-regulation of litigation funding in England and Wales. Litigation funding is the provision by a third party of non-recourse finance to a party to litigation or arbitration, which is used to pay for the legal costs of the dispute, in exchange for the funder taking a share of the proceeds in the event of a successful outcome. The litigation funding industry has established and paid for its own regulation and defined best practice, helping to protect claimants who seek the rational management of financial risk in litigation and arbitration. By working with a Funder Member of the ALF, parties accessing litigation funding are assured that they will find an organisation that strives to meet the high-quality standards that should define this industry. The ALF Code of Conduct sets out the standards by which all Funder Members of the ALF must abide. It sets the standards for the capital adequacy of funders, sets out the specific, limited circumstances in which funders may be permitted to withdraw from a case, and outlines the way in which the roles of funders, litigants and their lawyers should be kept separate. The ALF also maintains robust and efficient complaints handling procedures. The ALF actively engages with government, legislators, regulators and other policy makers to shape the regulatory environment for litigation funding in England and Wales.

ALF board members include Susan Dunn, Neil Purslow, Christopher Bogart, Jonathan Barnes who was re-elected at the AGM and Rob Rothkopf, Managing Partner of Balance Legal Capital LLP, who joins the board for the first time.

Funder members of the ALF include Augusta Ventures Ltd, Balance Legal Capital LLP, Burford Capital, Calunius Capital LLP, Harbour Litigation Funding Ltd, IMF Bentham, Innsworth Advisors Ltd, Redress Solutions PLC, Therium Capital Management Ltd, Vannin Capital PCC and Woodsford Litigation Funding Ltd.

For more information please visit: http://associationoflitigationfunders.com/

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Darrow Names Mathew Keshav Lewis As Chief Revenue Officer & US General Manager

By John Freund |

Darrow, the leading AI-powered justice intelligence platform, today announced the appointment of Mathew Keshav Lewis as its first Chief Revenue Officer and US General Manager. Lewis brings over 20 years of experience driving revenue and growth for high-profile legal and technology companies – including SaaS platform Dealpath, alternative investment platform Yieldstreet, and legal services pioneer Axiom Law – and will be responsible for helping Darrow scale as it continues an accelerated growth trajectory. 

"Mathew's arrival at Darrow opens enterprise-level deals to all plaintiff law firms, previously accessible only to a select few,” said Evyatar Ben Artzi, CEO and Co-Founder of Darrow. “His expertise from YieldStreet and Axiom empowers our partners to leverage AI, driving unprecedented growth and innovation.” 

Lewis, who will be based in Darrow’s New York headquarters, joins Darrow after serving as the first Chief Revenue Officer of Dealpath, a real estate deal management platform. He also previously held the role of Chief Revenue Officer and GM, Investments at Yieldstreet, where he drove record revenue and growth for the investment platform. 

“I’m delighted to join a team of tremendously talented individuals at Darrow, who have already disrupted the legal technology space and forged the path ahead,” said Mathew Keshav Lewis, Chief Revenue Officer & US General Manager of Darrow. “I am inspired by Darrow’s progress to date, and I look forward to working alongside Darrow’s growing team to expand the company’s footprint.”

This announcement comes at a period of rapid growth for the company, which completed its $35 million Series B funding round last year. Darrow currently works on active litigation valued over $10 billion across legal domains such as privacy, consumer protection, and antitrust. 

About Darrow: Founded in 2020, Darrow is a LegalTech company on a mission to fuel law firm growth and deliver justice for victims of class and mass action lawsuits. Darrow's AI-powered justice intelligence platform leverages generative AI and world-class legal experts and technologists to uncover egregious violations across legal domains spanning privacy and data breach, consumer protection, securities and financial fraud, environment, and employment. Darrow is based out of New York City and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit: darrow.ai

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Omni Bridgeway Releases Investment Portfolio Report for 3Q24

By John Freund |

Omni Bridgeway Limited (ASX: OBL) (Omni Bridgeway, OBL, Group) announces the key investment performance metrics for the three months ended 31 March 2024 (3Q24, Quarter) and for the financial year to date (FYTD).

Summary

  • Investment income of A$296 million FYTD; A$56 million provisionally attributable to OBL.
  • 23 full completions, 17 partial completions FYTD, with an overall multiple on invested capital (MOIC) of2.0x.
  • A$333 million of new commitments FYTD with a corresponding A$447 million in new fair value, on track to achieve our A$625 million target.
  • Pricing remains at improved levels, up 32% for the FYTD compared to FY23.
  • Strong pipeline, with agreed term sheets outstanding for an estimated A$212 million in new commitments.
  • OBL cash and receivables of A$101 million plus A$60 million in undrawn debt at 31 March 2024.
  • A$4.4 billion of possible estimated portfolio value (EPV) in completions over the next 12 months. 
  • Further simplification and enhancement of our disclosures as announced at the Annual General Meeting, comprising non-IFRS OBL-only financials and non-IFRS fair value on a portfolio basis and OBL-only basis.
  • These new disclosures and metrics, as well as a valuation framework for our existing book and platform, were presented at our investor day on 27 March 2024.

Refer to https://omnibridgeway.com/investors/investor-day.

Key metrics and developments for the Quarter

Income and completions

  • Investment income of A$296 million generated from A$193 million income recognised and A$103 million income yet to be recognised (IYTBR), with A$56 million provisionally attributable to OBL FYTD (excluding management and performance fees). 
  • During the Quarter, 11 full completions and 11 partial completions (excluding IYTBR), resulting in 23 full completions and 17 partial completions (excluding IYTBR) FYTD, and one secondary market transaction, with a FYTD overall MOIC of 2.0x.

New commitments

  • Our stated targets for FY24 include A$625 million in new commitments or equivalent value, prioritising value over volume to reflect potential for improved pricing of new commitments.
  • FYTD new commitments of A$333 million at 31 March 2024 (from matters that were newly funded, conditionally approved or had increased investment opportunities). 
  • The fair value associated with these commitments is $447million, 72% of the full year value generation target.
  • Pipeline of 37 agreed exclusive term sheets, representing approximately A$212 million in investment opportunities, which if converted into funded investments is a further 34% of our FY24 commitments target.  
  • In addition to the regular new commitments to investments in the existing funds FYTD, an additional A$11.5 million of external co-fundings were secured for these investments to manage fund concentration limits. OBL will be entitled to management fees as well as performance fees on such external co-funding.

Portfolio review

  • A$4.4 billion of EPV is assessed to possibly complete in the 12 months following the end of the quarter. This 12 month rolling EPV is based on investments which are subject to various stages of (anticipated) settlement discussions or for which an award or a judgment is expected. All or only part of these may actually complete during the 12 month period.
  • We anticipate replacing these final EPV metrics with fair value metrics by the end of this financial year.

Cash reporting and financial position

  • At 31 March 2024, the Group held A$100.7 million in cash and receivables (A$62.8 million in OBL balance sheet cash, A$2.0 million in OBL balance sheet receivables and A$35.9 million of OBL share of cash and receivables within Funds) plus access to a further A$60 million in debt.
  • In aggregate, we have approximately A$161 million to meet operational needs, interest payments, and fund investments before recognising any investment completions, secondary market sales, management and transaction fees, and associated fund performance fees.
  • Post Quarter-end and as per the date of this report, in anticipation of the expiry of the availability period of the debt facility, OBL has drawn down the A$60 million in undrawn debt and received the funds.

Investor day

The investor day presentation and Q&A which took place on 27 March 2024 can be viewed at https://omnibridgeway.com/investors/investor-day.

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Carpentum Capital Launches Aurigon Litigation Risk Consulting (LRC)

By John Freund |

The team around former Carpentum Capital has launched AURIGON LITIGATION RISK CONSULTING (LRC), a litigation funding intermediary based in Switzerland with a special focus on Latin America. 

Founder and Managing Director Dr. Detlef A. Huber comments: ”AURIGON LRC is combining two worlds, litigation finance and insurance. Both areas are increasingly overlapping. Insurers offer ever more litigation risk transfer products and funders recur to insurance to hedge their risks. Hence complexity and advisory requirements are increasing, especially in still developing markets like Latin America. With our team of lawyers and former re/insurance executives trained in Latin America, the US, UK and Europe we are perfectly suited to advice our clients in any stage of the funding process or in related insurance matters. Our goal is to become the preferred partner for litigation and arbitration funding projects out of Latin American jurisdictions and I am looking forward to this new adventure.”

ABOUT AURIGON

AURIGON Advisors Ltd. is operating as re/insurance consultancy since 2011 with a special focus on dispute resolution and auditing. With AURIGON LRC an intermediary for litigation funding has been launched servicing our clients out of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Switzerland in Spanish, English, Portuguese and German. With our experience setting up the first Swiss litigation fund dedicated to Latin America (founded 2018), and in the insurance advisory area (since 2011), we are bringing together knowledge of processes and mindsets of the funding and the insurance world. 

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