Professional Litigation Funding Market & Models Geneva Bar Association/Association of International...
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Professional Litigation Funding Market & Models Geneva Bar Association/Association of International Business Lawyers Dr. Arndt Eversberg, CEO ROLAND ProzessFinanz AG 23 January 2014
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Transcript of Professional Litigation Funding Market & Models Geneva Bar Association/Association of International...
Professional Litigation FundingMarket & ModelsGeneva Bar Association/Association of International Business Lawyers
Dr. Arndt Eversberg, CEO ROLAND ProzessFinanz AG
23 January 2014
Agenda
1. A short history
2. The market today
3. The different models to fund
4. The future of Litigation Funding
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“In the law, the only thing certain is the expense“
Samuel Butler,engl. writer and
satirist (1855 – 1902)
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1977 A bank‘s legal counsel meets a desperate client in Hamburg
1982 The “first funded“ trial is successfully finished
1999 17 years later FORIS AG raises its money at the Frankfurt New (Stock) Market
2001 Litigation Protection Insurers enter the market: DAS Prozessfinanzierung AG and ROLAND ProzessFinanz AG
2002 A big carrier joins: Allianz ProzessFinanz GmbH
1.0 A short history - Germany
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2001 IMF (Australia) Ltd. starts professional litigation funding of mainly class actions down under and AdvoFin Prozessfinanzierung AG does the same in Austria
2002 IM Litigation Funding Ltd. starts in UK
2007 Allianz funds in Austria, Switzerland (see BGE 131/223) and UKJuridica Investments Ltd.,Commercial Litigation Funding, Calunius Capital LLP and Harbour Litigation Funding Ltd.start their (mainly) UK funding business
2009 Argentum Litigation Funding, Hong KongBurford Capital, London/New York
2010 Woodsford Litigation Funding enters the market in London
Source: George Mason University, Law and Economics Center, „Third Party Litigation Funding in Europe“, 2011
2008 Deminor International SCRL, Brussels, focuses more on Investment Recovery Services
recently OmniBridgeway, Amsterdam, enlarges its services to Litigation Funding
1.1 A short history – Europe & abroad (excl. US)
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UK*: 8 Funders incl.
HarbourCalunius
WoodsfordBurford
Germany: ROLAND
LEGIAL (formerly DAS)
FORIS
(cover approx. over 90% of the German market)
Australia: 8 Funders incl.
IMF (Australia)
Hillcrest Litigation Services
Austria: AdvoFin
ROLAND
Belgium: Deminor
Cartel Damage
Claims (CDC)
Netherlands:
OmniBridgeway
Switzerland:
JuraPlus, ProFina
ROLAND (2014)
* Source: Association of Litigation Funders of England & Wales
2. The market today
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Preliminary mark:
- Minimum claim amounts vary between the funders and differ from country to country
- As a rule of thumb one can say
Funding below EUR 100.000 is inefficient
Germany is at the low end (100.000), Switzerland & UK are at the top end (500.000)
If arbitration is chosen, a minimum should be 1.000.000 or even higher
A class action below 10 million is probably improvident due to the bookbuilding process and handling
3. The different models
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3.1 The classic model:
- Funder gets a percentage share of the proceeds, wich may vary from case to case
- Usually it‘s a simple structure such as
20% pre-trial
30% in-trial up to EUR 500.000 and
20% of the amount above (if any)
- Sometimes in decreasing steps as agreed such as
30% up to 1 million
25% between 1 and 10 million
10% above 10 million (and so forth if applicable)
3. The different models
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3.2 The advanced investment models:
- Funder gets a multiple of its investment, usually x2 to x4 due to
the risk structure
the level of exposure (cost of defendants, ATE in UK)
the length of the proceedings/investment time
the actual results
- Funder and claimant agree a minimum return (e.g. x1) and a cap (e.g. x3 or
a specific amount)
3. The different models
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3.3 The advanced structure models:
- Co-Funding structure with different funders (one leading, others behind)
- Co-Funding structure with claimant (share of investment & risk, developed proceedings)
- Funding of portfolios instead of single/individual case
- Hybrid Funding including an interest provision (often the minimum profit) and a conditional share of the proceeds dependent on the outcome
Base rule: all models are always contingent on success or failure!
3. The different models
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more common, more used (see BR report 03.07.2013)
more international cases
more cross border co-operations between funders
more different models of funding
Overall a widely known used institution to allow access to justice
and enforce justified claims of various sizes and structures of
“Davids against Goliaths“.
4. The future of Litigation Funding
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Dr. Arndt EversbergCEO
ROLAND ProzessFinanz AGDeutz-Kalker Straße 4650679 KÖLNDEUTSCHLAND +49 221 8277-3000
Thank you for listening
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