Craig Mitnick, a New Jersey lawyer who represented hundreds of NFL players in a concussion settlement, has asked a federal judge to vacate the award to a litigation funder. Balanced Bridge Funding (formerly Thrivest) provided advances to former players while they waited for settlement monies. Mitnick has been ordered by an arbitrator to repay more than $2 million in loans.
At present, the New Zealand Law Commission is reviewing regulations regarding class action regimes and litigation funding. The expectation is that a new round of regulations could be introduced to the minister of justice by summer of next year.
Solicitor XY, so named because her mental health could be damaged if her name is revealed, has been charged with doctoring invoices to steal funds. Her client, Hanadi Rafraf, sustained injuries in a car accident and was later awarded more than $450,000. Yet her lawyer gave her documents signed by a claims assessor explaining that she would receive $132,000 less than her stated award.
A fifth member of a slip-and-fall fraud ring was arrested and charged in a Manhattan Federal Court. The scheme, which amounts to more than $30 million, appears to have begun in 2013. Adrian Alexander, age 75, has been charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his alleged attempts to gain fraudulent insurance reimbursements. The case will be heard by US District Judge Sidney H Stein.
In the early days of litigation funding, legal firms and funders were separate entities. As the industry has grown more widely accepted, an increasing number of law firms are teaming up with funders to offer clients an array of new services. Now some are questioning whether this is really a positive development.
His Honor Judge Cadwallader ruled that a couple suing their former solicitors should be held liable for costs. The Liverpool judge also affirmed that Vanessa and Michael Kennedy breached their agreement with law firm Bermans and the funder, Escalate Law, when they misled their lawyers.
As lawyers, courts, and plaintiffs develop an appreciation for Litigation Finance, competition becomes increasingly robust. Demand for funding is up, as are the number of new funders throwing their hats into the ring. There’s a wide array of funding entities now, and they vary in terms of preferred case size, minimum and maximum deployments, jurisdiction, commercial or industry specialties, and more.
Seth Lovis, former managing director of Seth Lovis & Co, has been struck after admitting to failing to meet his obligations to various lenders. An investigation by the SRA determined that the personal injury lawyer accepted funding from multiple lenders for the same case more than a dozen times.
Nanoco Group recently released an update in their legal action against tech giant Samsung. The suit alleges the willful infringement of Nanoco IP. The patent infringement suit was filed against multiple Samsung entities in February of last year. Nanoco has accepted financial assistance from a third-party litigation funder in order to pursue the case.
Can failure to provide security for costs derail an otherwise meritorious case? It appears that’s what happened in a New Zealand-based collective action against Feltex Carpets. The case was funded, but stopped abruptly when funders failed to provide security for costs. Why did that happen?
Timothy Scrantom was once considered a pioneer in the litigation funding community. These days, the chatter is less flattering. Scrantom, as well as Kenneth Elder and others, are ensconced in a legal battle to prevent them from seizing control of Total Asset Recovery Service.
Conflicts of interest are a concern if law firms find themselves entwined with litigation funders, according to one former president of the Irish Law Society. The potential exists for lawyers to feel torn between third-party funders and the clients they are sworn to serve. This is especially true in the UK, where funders and lawyers become “close.”
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