Category: champerty

Severance Denied: Diag Human v Volterra Fietta [; A Potential Public Policy Warning for Litigation Funders – Gatehouse Chambers

Posted November 21st, 2023 in agreements, chambers articles, champerty, enforcement, fees, news, remuneration, solicitors by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has held that the severance of terms rendering a CFA unenforceable was not available to solicitors on public policy grounds and that consequently their clients were entitled to the return of sums paid on account. The decision in Diag Human v Volterra Fietta will ring alarm bells for litigation funders who might be contemplating launching similar arguments as a consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision in R (on the application of PACCAR) v Competition Appeal Tribunal.’

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Gatehouse Chambers, 10th October 2023

Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk

Court of Appeal issues reminder that funding arrangements need to comply with strict rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 28th, 2022 in appeals, assignment, champerty, damages, law firms, news, solicitors by tracey

‘The English and Welsh Court of Appeal has handed down a judgment which should act as a reminder for law firms that any innovative funding arrangements must comply with statutory rules or risk being declared void.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 25th March 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Firm to take champerty case to Supreme Court – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 18th, 2022 in appeals, assignment, champerty, law firms, news, solicitors, Supreme Court by tracey

‘A London commercial firm will ask the Supreme Court to develop the common law of champerty after an appeal over the assignment of its now-deceased client’s claim was dismissed.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 17th March 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

CA upholds ban on solicitor taking assignment of client’s action – Legal Futures

Posted March 14th, 2022 in appeals, assignment, champerty, law firms, news, solicitors by tracey

‘The public policy behind the ban on a solicitor taking an assignment of their client’s cause of action prior to judgment holds good in the era of damages-based agreements (DBAs), the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Legal futures, 14th March 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court of Appeal declines to ‘develop’ common law of champerty – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 14th, 2022 in appeals, assignment, champerty, law firms, news, solicitors by tracey

‘A London law firm has lost an appeal over the assignment of a now-deceased client’s claim to his solicitors, with the Court of Appeal confirming that “a solicitor acting for a client in legal proceedings may not validly take an assignment of the client’s cause of action prior to judgment.” ’

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Law Society's Gazette, 14th March 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

High Court refuses to let law firm take place of deceased claimant – Legal Futures

Posted July 21st, 2021 in assignment, champerty, costs, damages, fees, law firms, news, third parties by sally

‘A High Court judge has rejected an application by a law firm to substitute itself for a deceased claimant, on the grounds that it would be a form of champerty.’

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Legal Futures, 20th July 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court blocks firm being substituted into claim of dead client – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted July 21st, 2021 in assignment, champerty, costs, damages, fees, law firms, news, third parties by sally

‘The High Court has refused an application from a London firm to be substituted for their deceased client in a £1.5m litigation claim.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 20th July 2021

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

High Court rejects CFA-style ban on third-party funding in family cases – Litigation Futures

Posted July 22nd, 2020 in champerty, families, family courts, fees, news, third parties by sally

‘The ban on conditional fee agreements (CFAs) in family cases should not be read across to third-party litigation funding, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 22nd July 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Oligarch’s wife brings son into high-stakes divorce case – The Guardian

Posted May 12th, 2020 in champerty, divorce, families, joinder, news, third parties by sally

‘It is proving to be a very modern divorce. Armies of lawyers and advisers; hundreds of millions of pounds at stake; priceless art; a superyacht; a key lieutenant switching sides; the son dragged into the proceedings by his mother. No wonder some involved have likened it to The War of the Roses, the dark Hollywood comedy about a feuding couple starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas.’

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The Guardian, 10th May 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Law firm “under no duty” to disclose counsel’s advice to funder – Litigation Futures

Posted March 5th, 2020 in champerty, contracts, disclosure, law firms, legal representation, news by tracey

‘The High Court has struck out claims brought against a City law firm that a litigation funder said did not pass on the “pessimistic views” expressed by counsel about a case it was backing.’

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Litigation Futures, 5th March 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Funder exposed to costs as CoA says Arkin rule not binding – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 27th, 2020 in budgets, champerty, costs, fees, news, third parties by tracey

‘The Court of Appeal has ruled that a litigation funder can be exposed to higher costs than those they committed to backing a claim in a ruling that will send shock-waves through the sector.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 26th February 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

High Court ruling “shows strength of Manolete model” – Litigation Futures

Posted December 6th, 2019 in assignment, champerty, default judgments, news, setting aside, tax evasion, taxation, third parties, VAT by sally

‘A High Court ruling refusing to set aside £4.3m judgment in default in a suppressed sales case shows the strength of the litigation funding model used by Manolete Partners, it has been argued.’

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Litigation Futures, 5th December 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Litigation funder highlights lack of competition – Litigation Futures

Posted November 28th, 2019 in champerty, competition, news, third parties by sally

‘The market of clients using litigation finance through choice rather than necessity – especially companies looking to offload their liability for portfolios of cases – remains “almost entirely unaddressed”, an AIM-listed funder has told investors.’

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Litigation Futures, 28th November 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Regulation of third party litigation funding in England and Wales – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 20th, 2018 in champerty, news, third parties by tracey

‘Third party litigation funding is a growing industry in England and Wales, although the market remains largely unregulated.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 19th July 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Setting up special purpose vehicle to pursue debts “not champertous”, High Court rules – Litigation Futures

Posted May 7th, 2015 in champerty, debts, news, striking out by sally

‘Setting up a company as a special purpose vehicle to pursue an individual and his family for debts, including through the courts, does not amount to champerty, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 7th May 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Law firms cannot be held liable for disbursement costs, rules CoA – The Lawyer

Posted April 12th, 2013 in champerty, costs, fees, news, solicitors by sally

“Firms cannot automatically be held liable for costs when they have funded a claimant’s disbursements in a failed claim, the Court of Appeal has ruled.”

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The Lawyer, 11th April 2013

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Golden Eye (International) Ltd and others v Telefόnica UK Ltd (Open Rights Group, intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted January 7th, 2013 in appeals, champerty, copyright, data protection, disclosure, internet, law reports, pornography, privacy by sally

Golden Eye (International) Ltd and others v Telefόnica UK Ltd (Open Rights Group, intervening) [2012] EWCA Civ 1740; [2012] WLR (D) 396

“Where a court had found that arrangements entered into by copyright owners with a claimant copyright owner to sue intended defendants in its own name and on behalf of the other owners for alleged breach of copyright were not champertous and that it was proportionate to make an order for disclosure to enable the other owners to have their infringement claims brought, since their interests in enforcing their copyrights outweighed the interests of intended defendants in protecting their privacy and data protection rights, there was no justification for the court to grant relief to the claimant alone and not the other owners without identifying some factor as affecting the balance of the competing interests identified.”

WLR Daily, 21st December 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Litigation funders become big business, enjoying booming market in UK – The Guardian

Posted May 26th, 2012 in champerty, costs, damages, legal profession, news, third parties by sally

“Champerty used to be a crime. Now it is known as third-party litigation funding and has developed into an investment industry backed by up to £500m of investor cash looking for lucrative courtroom opportunities.”

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The Guardian, 25th May 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Sibthorpe and another v Southwark London Borough Council (Law Society intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted January 28th, 2011 in champerty, costs, indemnities, law reports by sally

Sibthorpe and another v Southwark London Borough Council (Law Society intervening) [2011] EWCA Civ 25; [2011] WLR (D) 21

“A conditional fee agreement which provided for the claimant’s solicitors to indemnify her against payment of the defendant’s costs if the claim was dismissed was not champertous or otherwise contrary to public policy. As a result its inclusion in a conditional fee agreement which in all other respects complied with the requirements of section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 did not invalidate the agreement.”

WLR Daily, 26th January 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.