SEC Requires PE Firms to Disclose Litigation Funding; Funder LionFish on the Market; and Is Lit Fin Responsible for Increase in Insurance Settlements?

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Deals: RBG Holdings Moving Forward with Sale of LionFish

Reporting by?Legal Futures?reveals that?RBG Holdings plc?is taking steps to sell?LionFish Litigation Finance Limited, its litigation funding subsidiary, which had previously reported ￡4 million in losses. RBG’s group chief executive,?Jon Divers, said that the decision was made following a strategic review of the level of investment required to minimize risk, stating that ‘the group did not have the balance sheet to support the growth required and that LionFish’. Read the full article >>

#litigationfinance?#litigationfunding?#legalfinance

Regulatory: SEC Approves Mandatory Disclosure of Litigation Funding by Private Equity Firms

Reporting by?Bloomberg Law?details the results of a vote by the?U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission?earlier this week, which approved new rules governing required disclosures by private equity firms. These companies had previously been able to avoid making disclosures about litigation finance investments, but will now be required to privately report to the SEC ‘the percentage of their capital targeted for use by law firms as part of an investment strategy’. Read the full article>>

#litigationfinance?#litigationfunding?#legalfinance?#privateequity?#disclosure?#legalinvestments

Regulatory: Is Litigation Funding Responsible for Rising Insurance Settlements?

An article by?PropertyCasualty360, looks at the issue of rising insurance settlements and the associated rising cost of civil litigation, known as social inflation.

Examining litigation funding’s ties to these increases, the author found that there were those who do see a link, such as?John C.S. Pierce?who investigated a social inflation task force at the?DRI. Pierce argues that the presence of third-party funders and the huge amount of capital they bring, naturally increases costs overall, stating that as the funding industry grows ‘we will see more of these big verdicts and […] more big settlements.’

However, there are experts who disagree with this assessment, including?Tom Baker, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, who argues that even if social inflation is real, ‘there is no solid evidence, and certainly no published, peer reviewed research, showing that litigation funding is the cause.’ Baker also criticized a publication by insurer?Swiss Re, which claimed third-party funding had increased costs in commercial trucking litigation, but failed to note that lawyers in this area do not regularly engage litigation funders. Read the full article>>

#litigationfinance?#litigationfunding?#legalfinance?#litigationinsurance?#litigationriskinsurance?#contingencyriskinsurance?#ATEinsurance?#Socialinflation?#civillitigation

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