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Case Developments Commercial

Group Members in Merivale Class Action Withdraw Approval Application for $18 Million Settlement

By John Freund |

The announcement of a settlement being reached is often viewed as the point at which a class action arrives at its preferred destination. However, in the case of the Merivale class action in Australia, it has taken only two months since the announcement of the settlement for the mood to sour and fresh obstacles to arise.

Reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald reveals that the $18 million settlement agreed in the class action brought against hospitality company, Merivale, is now under threat. Whilst a Federal Court hearing to review the settlement had been set for May 7, the law firm representing the applicants is now seeking to renegotiate the settlement, after there was a significant increase in the number of members registering for the settlement.

Adero Law’s Rory Markham stated that during the December mediation hearing, the total number of group members had risen to 788, and therefore the $18 million settlement figure now represented “a poor deal that has been substantially diluted by the additional registrations.” As a result, Adero has withdrawn its approval application and has been ordered by the court to provide further information and financial modelling to explain the group members’ decision to withdraw.

Richard McHugh, SC, who acts as counsel for Merivale, suggested that rather than increase the total settlement figure, “an obvious way through is for the funding commission or legal costs to be reduced”.

As LFJ reported in March, the without-admission settlement would have seen Merivale pay $18 million, with $8.6 million set to be distributed to cover legal costs and the litigation funder’s commission. According to the terms of the original agreement, Investor Claim Partner would have received approximately 25% of the settlement whilst Adero would have received approximately $1.75 million, including administration costs for settlement distribution.

In court, Justice Tom Thawley emphasised that regardless of whether or not “the lawyers for the applicants were grossly incompetent” in miscalculating the number of registrants, “the court isn’t going to approve a settlement which isn’t fair and reasonable.”

Consumer

Legal-Bay Lawsuit Funding Announces Increased Commitment to Product Liability Funding

By John Freund |

Legal-Bay LLC, The Lawsuit Pre Settlement Funding Company, announced today their newfound focus on product liability claims for plaintiffs and lawyers involved in ongoing mass tort litigations. Due to increasing product liability lawsuit loan requests, Legal-Bay has committed more capital to secure even more specialized lawsuit funding for the law firms and plaintiffs out there with product liability cases due to their complex and time-consuming nature.

Legal-Bay's knowledge of product liability lawsuits and experience with mass tort litigations for various products and defective products makes them the leading lawsuit funding firm to call for a complex product defect case involving defective products or product rejection. This experience, as well as Legal-Bay's overall capital, gives them the reputation of the best lawsuit funding firm that exists today.

The lawsuit loan company's team of experts studies each national litigation, often leading the legal funding industry on which cases to begin funding. Many other lawsuit loan companies and lawsuit cash advance places and loan companies do not fund these types of cases due to the complex and time-consuming nature. However, this is just part of why Legal-Bay remains so committed to helping people who have suffered as a result of a defective surgical product or medical device gone wrong, including those that migrate in the body or cause other long-term damage.

If you are wondering what to do when a large corporation will fight your case or if a large corporation or company is fighting your claim, don't hesitate to contact Legal-Bay today. To learn more about product liability lawsuit funding, product liability lawsuit claim loans, product liability lawsuit money, or defective product settlement funding amounts, please visit our new product liability funding site, at: https://lawsuitssettlementfunding.com/product-liability.php 

Currently, Legal-Bay is expanding their product liability wing as they review various product liability cases and product liability class action suits with national law firms for legal funding options.

Below is a list of just some of the product liability mass tort cases that Legal-Bay's team is actively monitoring or has funded in the past:

  • IVC Filter
  • Hernia Mesh
  • Exactech Implant Recall
  • Hip Implants
  • Knee Implants
  • CPAP Recall
  • Birth Control
  • JUUL E-Cigarettes
  • J&J Talc Products
  • Round Up Weed Killer
  • Medical Devices
  • 3M Ear Plugs
  • Paraquat
  • Just For Men Hair Products
  • Chemical Hair Straightener Products
  • Essure Birth Control IUD
  • Permanent Makeup Claim
  • Eyebrow Tint Claim
  • Essure Birth Control IUD
  • Allergen or Saline or Silicone Breast Implants

Legal-Bay is currently reviewing and assessing case worth or proposed settlement amounts for many other bad products or defective products not listed above.

Chris Janish, CEO commented on today's announcement, "Legal-Bay has been built on product liability funding.  We are the leading and best mass tort funding company in the country, in my sincere opinion.  We work with the top lawyers on each specific litigation, and see cases and litigations from start to finish.  We are a guiding light for many victims who may need guidance on a product liability attorney to choose, and funding for surgical needs due to defective product or legal funding just to pay bills.  We do it all and take substantial risk—unlike most other litigation finance companies—to help our clients and law firms alike." 

To learn more, or to receive a free case evaluation on your bad product claim or defective product suit claim, or if you are looking for a product liability lawyer or product liability law firm please visit Legal-Bay's new website built for these types of claims at: https://lawsuitssettlementfunding.com/product-liability.php 

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Commercial Special Features

Member Spotlight: Jessica Fillmore

By John Freund |

Jessica Fillmore, MBA, is Co-Founder of Élan™, a consulting agency that specializes in business growth services. Her extensive background has created a diverse and robust wealth of knowledge and experience in digital media, legal notification strategy and implementation, marketing strategy, legal branding, and campaign building.

During her tenure, she has planned and implemented high-profile, complex legal notice communication programs. Jessica also has vast experience as a digital media expert and has worked with global clients across retail B2B, CPG, Education, and Healthcare industries. She leverages this experience as well as access to top industry tools to effectively plan and execute notification plans. 

Jessica has co-authored and published on various aspects of modern legal notice, online claim filings, and current legal notification in class action litigation. She was a lead contributing author for Élan Legal Media's “State of Media, 2022”, “Seven Realities of Modern Legal Notice”, and “How We Drive Online Claim Filings”. 

In the course of her legal marketing experience, she has designed legal notices for a wide range of cases including retail customer, defective drug and device, targeted metropolitan area, nationwide, and more, all resulting in a 100% success rate for delivering estimated impressions and notice requirements. She has also served as an expert in determining ways in which firms can increase effectiveness on a number of cases including catastrophic injury, medical malpractice birth injury, product liability, and more. 

Jessica Fillmore is accredited as a Certified Scrum Master by the Scrum Alliance. She has served on the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association. She has also co-taught an advanced advertising course for MBA candidates at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. 

Company Name and Description: Elan™ is a strategic marketing and consulting team dedicated to driving measurable business growth. We combine a deep understanding of lead generation, cutting-edge marketing tactics, and optimized lead intake to deliver exceptional results. Our team of experienced analysts, media planners, and creatives specializes in the legal and medical industries, allowing us to tailor our solutions to your unique needs.

Here's what sets us apart:

  • Data-driven optimization: We leverage advanced analytics to ensure your marketing spend delivers the highest possible return on investment (ROI).
  • Industry expertise: Our team has a proven track record of success in the legal and medical fields, which grants us an understanding of the specific challenges and opportunities you face on a daily basis.
  • Focus on results: We're not interested in empty promises. We partner with you to achieve tangible growth that moves the needle for your business, and have results that show it.

Élan provides clear and effective marketing solutions to propel your business forward.

Company Website: elanteams.com 

Year Founded:  2017

Headquarters:  Minneapolis, MN

Area of Focus: Élan works with Litigation Funding Groups to bridge the gap between funded marketing plans and the top tier law firms that support them. When Élan partners with a funded law firm, we work to ensure not only a clear path of transparent data for all campaign stakeholders, but also offer a strategic approach to building and supporting a quality brand for the firm long term -- funded or not. We work to build long term partnerships that continuously evolve and grow across every point of the campaign. 

Member Quote: 

“When working with our litigation funding partners, we eliminate any work a client would typically need to handle. Whether that’s working with the law firm, lead intake team, or even case value reports, we manage every component of a funded marketing campaign so that you can focus on your investors. Our goal is to create a streamlined process while providing transparency for every invested dollar spent.”

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Case Developments Commercial

Australian Federal Court Approves $24.5M Funder’s Commission for Galactic 

By John Freund |

Reporting by Lawyer’s Weekly covers a major development in two Australian class actions, where litigation funder Galactic obtained a favourable ruling from the full Federal Court to double its commission from its funding of lawsuits brought against 7-Eleven and ANZ Bank. Justices Craig Colvin, Bernard Murphy and Michael Lee, overturned a 2023 judgement by Justice O’Callaghan that refused to make Galactic’s CFO order. As a result, Galactic’s commission from the class actions will drastically rise from $12 million, to a total $24.5 million.

The Federal Court’s ruling on 2 May found that Justice O’Callaghan had been wrong to refuse making the CFO order on the basis that the court did not have the power to do so. The three Justices wrote that Galactic’s $24.5 million commission “is commercially realistic and properly reflects the costs and risks Galactic took on by funding the proceedings.”

The class actions brought against 7-Eleven and ANZ Bank focused on allegations that the fuel and convenience store chain’s standard Franchise Agreement had ‘unfair contractual terms’ that violated consumer law. ANZ Bank were targeted by the second class action over claims that it had failed to meet its obligations under Australia’s Code of Banking Practice, ‘by lending to buy into the franchise system, often up to 100 per cent of the franchise license.’

Consumer

Level Acquires Tower Street Finance to Target Probate Lending Sector

By John Freund |

An article in ETF Express covers the announcement from Level, a family law and private client lender, that it has acquired Tower Street Finance in order to expand its presence in the probate lending sector. Level’s acquisition strategy is reportedly being guided by the growth in activity around probate lending, which is being fuelled by processing delays and individuals’ demand for third-party capital amid a difficult economic climate.

Commenting on the acquisition, Level’s founder and CEO, George Williamson said: “Tower Street Finance have been the standout market leader since pioneering the probate market in 2020, while Level has done the same in the family law market.  By combining Tower Street Finance’s unparalleled expertise and network in the probate market with our platform and trusted reputation, we have a significant advantage over our competitors.”

Jim Sission, co-founder of Tower Street Finance, will be joining Level alongside two of his employees. Sission said that the acquisition by Level brings together the two company’s expertise across family law and probate lending, and will create “a best-in-class platform for legal funding.”

In addition to the acquisition, Level also announced that it had secured another £10 million in outside investment, comprised of a £5 million equity capital investment from Kendal Capital and £5 million debt investment from Correlation Risk Partners. Kendal Capital’s CEO and co-founder, Grant Kurland will be joining Level’s board of advisers, which already includes notable industry names such as Neil Purslow, CIO of Therium Capital. Kurland said that “the combination of Level & TSF is well placed to capitalise on their respective market leading positions in the family and probate sectors.”

Case Developments Commercial

London’s Black-Cab Drivers Bring £250M Claim Against Uber

By John Freund |

An article The Financial Times covers legal actions being brought against Uber on behalf of London’s black-cab drivers, centred on allegations that Uber misled Transport for London (TfL) to obtain its license. Specifically, the lawsuit focuses on the claim that Uber misled TfL around its booking model, and that the company allowed its drivers to receive direct bookings from customers rather than through a central system.

The claim is being brought in the High Court by RGL Management and is representing more than 10,500 black-cab drivers, who argue that they were harmed by unfair competition and are seeking up to £25,000 in compensation per driver. The claimants are represented by Mishcon de Reya and Katch Investment group are providing the litigation funding for the claim, with the total value of the group litigation reaching £250 million.

In a statement, Uber continued to deny the allegations and said that the claims “are completely unfounded”, maintaining its position that the ride-hailing company “operates lawfully in London, fully licensed by TfL.”

More information about the group litigation can be found on RGL Management’s ‘Black Cabs v Uber Litigation 2021’ (BULit21) website.

Commercial Regulatory Issues

Legislation to ensure the enforceability of LFAs is progressing smoothly through Parliament

By John Freund |

The following is a contributed piece by Tom Webster, Chief Commercial Officer at Sentry Funding.

So far, the Litigation Funding Agreements (Enforceability) Bill has been passing through Parliament without a hitch.

The government is bringing the legislation in response to the Supreme Court’s decision last summer in PACCAR Inc & Ors v Competition Appeal Tribunal & Ors [2023] UKSC 28, which called into question the enforceability of LFAs.

The Bill was briefly introduced into the House of Lords on 19 March, and was debated at second reading on 15 April. During the debate, while some peers discussed the need for regulation of the litigation funding industry and for careful consideration of whether the retrospective nature of the legislation was justified, no peers opposed the Bill – and many welcomed it.

More recently, during scrutiny at grand committee on 29 April, the relatively small number of peers who attended the session broadly supported the Bill, and several spoke in favour of the need for its provisions to be retrospective.

In terms of the Bill’s drafting, the government proposed some small changes at committee stage, which were waved through by peers. The most significant was to address a potential problem with the original drafting where the LFA relates to the payment of costs rather than funding the provision of advocacy or litigation services.

The problem was that, in the original wording, it could be argued that the Bill only applied to the funding of costs that relate to court proceedings, but not those relating to arbitration, or settlements. This has now been resolved by new wording to make clear that an LFA may relate to the payment of costs following court, tribunal or arbitration proceedings, or as part of a settlement. An LFA may also relate to the provision of advocacy or litigation services.

Meanwhile another government amendment was aimed at avoiding problems for litigants-in-person, by ensuring that the definition of LFAs in the Bill includes agreements to fund the expenses of LiPs, for example where they need to pay for an expert’s report.

During grand committee, peers also expressed their approval of the broad terms of reference that have now been published by the Civil Justice Council for its review of litigation funding, which will include an examination of whether the sector should be regulated; and if so, how. Peers commended the speedy timescale that the CJC has set itself, aiming to produce an interim report by the summer, and a full report by summer 2025.

As the Litigation Funding Agreements (Enforceability) Bill continues its journey through Parliament and the CJC begins work on its review, there are clearly significant changes on the way for the litigation funding sector in the UK.

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Commercial Regulatory Issues

Rowles-Davies: Retrospective Provision in Litigation Funding Bill is ‘Fundamentally Flawed’

By John Freund |

In an article shared on LinkedIn, Nick Rowles-Davies, founder and CEO of Lexolent, makes the case against the retrospective aspect of the UK government’s Litigation Funding Agreements (Enforceability) Bill. Whilst acknowledging that many within the industry disagree with his position, Rowles-Davies argues that ‘the Bill should be prospective only and that the retrospective element is fundamentally flawed.’

Rowles-Davies summarizes his extensive article into the following key points:

  1. ‘The starting point for any consideration of the Bill must be firstly to correct the various inaccurate Supporting Documents (to the Bill) such that the law as it stands, and has always stood, is properly reflected. 
  2. The Government has put forward no credible justification to support the retrospective provision in the Bill.
  3. When considered under the true set of facts, this legislation appears to be incompatible with the ECHR. 
  4. The justification for the Bill’s prospective elements and its (arguably unprecedented) retrospective aspect must be considered separately. The Supporting Documents grossly misrepresent the position. Save for pure value transfers from previously funded parties to existing funders, what the Bill properly seeks to achieve can be accomplished through prospective only legislation. 
  5. If retrospectivity survives, it is likely that the matter will come before the courts quickly thereafter in relation to the ECHR.’

Rowles-Davies argues in the article that ‘the Supporting Documents to the LFA Bill provide absolutely no evidence of legal precedent to support the retrospective aspect of the Bill.” He goes on to say that not only is this bill ‘unprecedented’, but it also fails to provide ‘credible “public interest” justification for the retrospective aspect.’ 

In the conclusion of the article, Rowles-Davies calls on both chambers of Parliament to ‘take proper time to explore the foundation upon which the Bill rests and then test its contents after it has been repaired.’ Furthermore, he argues that ‘the positioning of the Bill is disrespectful to a busy Parliament tasked with addressing far more pressing global, social, and public interest matters.’

Commercial Regulatory Issues

Bills Targeting Litigation Finance Disclosure and Foreign Funders Make Progress in Louisiana

By John Freund |

Reporting by Bloomberg Law covers the campaign to introduce new rules governing litigation funding in the state of Louisiana, with proponents of the legislation sensing an opportunity to make progress since the state elected a new governor, Jeff Landry. The two bills making their way through the Legislature are: HB336, which would create a Litigation Financing Disclosure Act, and SB355, which would enact ‘transparency and limitations on foreign third-party litigation funding’. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, Representative Emily Chenevert ,who brought HB336, explained that the turnover in elected representatives provided a fresh opportunity, saying: “The appetite was there already within the legislature and so now it’s like, let’s attempt this and let’s see with a new House and some new senators what could happen.” Dai Wai Chin Feman, managing director at funder Parabellum Capital, spoke out in opposition to Chenevert’s bill but said that SB355 was “acceptable to our industry.”

HB336 would require any party in a civil action to disclose the existence of a litigation financing agreement, whilst redacting the financial details of the agreement, and would make all financing arrangements ‘permissible subjects of discovery’. The bill also prohibits funders from controlling or making any decisions in the proceedings, stating that ‘The right to make these decisions remains solely with the plaintiff and the plaintiff's attorney in the civil proceeding.’

SB355 requires any foreign litigation funder involved in a civil action in Louisiana to disclose its details to the state’s attorney general (AG), and to provide the AG with a copy of the funding agreement. Similarly to HB336, this bill would prohibit the foreign funder from controlling the legal action in any way and also prohibits the funder from being ‘assigned rights in a civil action for which the litigation funder has provided funding’.

HB336 has been approved by the state House and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, whilst SB355 has cleared the majority of procedural hurdles and now awaits a vote by the House.

Commercial

Stonward’s Demarco: Funding Market Trending Towards Consolidation and Specialization

By John Freund |

In an interview with Leaders League, Guido Demarco, head of legal assets at Stonward, discusses the current state of the litigation funding market. The interview explores recent trends affecting funders, the nuances of the Spanish funding market, and Stonward’s own approach to legal strategy and market specialization.

Beginning with an overview of the global litigation funding industry, Demarco highlights the move towards consolidation, with funders specializing in specific legal sub-sectors or markets. Demarco says that this approach allows funders “to leverage expertise in particular legal domains or jurisdictions, enhancing their ability to assess and manage risks effectively.” He goes on to explain that the cost burden of case origination and due diligence, along with the need for specialized experts for each legal area, means that consolidation allows funders to maximise capital efficiency and scale their operations.

Focusing on the Spanish market, Demarco describes the country as a “promising hub” for litigation finance, pointing to the jurisdiction’s “sophisticated legal market” and its position as “a double gateway to the broader Latin American continent and the EU market.” Referencing his earlier explanation of the trend towards consolidation, Demarco argues that this has benefitted Spain as the market continues to attract specialist funders who can build an on-the-ground footprint in the market. As for Stonward’s exclusive focus on the Spanish funding market, Demarco says that this strategy has allowed the business “to develop an in-depth understanding of local legal intricacies, enabling the team to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities presented by Spanish procedural law.”

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