Burford Capital, the world’s largest litigation funder, has confirmed rumors that it is indeed setting up shop in the land where litigation funding first began. The funder became one of five global funders to partner with a law firm (in Burford’s case, Quinn Emanuel) on the filing of a shareholder class action against wealth management giant AMP. Now Burford has announced plans to formally enter the Australian market, with an eye towards further class action claims.
An LFJ Conversation with Michael Kelley, Partner, Parker Poe
Burford Capital, the world’s largest litigation funder, has confirmed rumors that it is indeed setting up shop in the land where litigation funding first began. The funder became one of five global funders to partner with a law firm (in Burford’s case, Quinn Emanuel) on the filing of a shareholder class action against wealth management giant AMP. Now Burford has announced plans to formally enter the Australian market, with an eye towards further class action claims.
As reported by ABC, Burford is looking to capitalize on the findings of the Royal Banking Commission which found that AMP charged clients fees for services it did not procure.
Burford CEO Christopher Bogart acknowledged that his firm’s involvement in the AMP case is meant to be a stepping stone for future funding engagements in Australia, calling the partnership with Quinn Emanuel “an important foot in the door.”
The UK-based Burford has no solid footprint in Australia, the world’s oldest litigation funding market, and so will have to build its business there from scratch. While many regulators and government officials have been crying foul over funder influence in the class action market (spiking the number and size of claims against corporations), Bogart contends his industry is performing “an enormous public good” by lowering the cost of bringing a class action claim for the pool of litigants.
Given Burford’s latest $1 billion fundraise from an unnamed sovereign wealth fund (1/3 of that total coming from the funder’s own balance sheet), the company has plenty of deployment options when it comes to making investments in Australia – or anywhere else, for that matter.
