Auf Wiedersehen Allianz: litigation funding in Germany

Christian Stuerwald, the former head of litigation funding at Allianz UK and now Partner with Calunius Capital, comments in Aleks Vickovich's article on litigation funding in Germany and Allianz’s withdrawal from the market. (Please note that only subscribers to CDR magazine will be able to view the article.)

DBAs under scrutiny

This article appeared in Litigation Funding magazine and reported on an event held at Herbert Smith’s offices in January. Leading experts, including Leslie Perrin, examined the impact of contingency fees which are due to be introduced in April 2013.

Calunius is pleased to be working with Oxus Gold plc.

The third way

Third party litigation funding was the topic discussed by The Lawyer’s panel this week and Calunius’ Christian Stuerwald was asked for his reaction.

Emerging Risks on Dual Frontiers: Perspectives on Potential Liabilities in the New Decade

Leslie Perrin, Chairman of Calunius Capital LLP, is a guest speaker at this forthcoming conference on the topic of Third Party Litigation Finance.

Litigation funders respond to US calls for increased regulation

All hell broke loose last week in the world of litigation funding. There was a debate in the House of Lords on the Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which included half an hour on litigation funding. This was instigated by an extraordinary lobbying effort by none other than the US Chamber of Commerce, the mouthpiece of Global Big Business and Enemy of Access to Justice, whose main purpose in life is to preserve the inbuilt advantage in litigation held by the biggest of businesses. The US Chamber rightly perceives litigation funding and the Access to Justice that it gives to SMEs as a serious challenge to the US Chamber’s members. The Chamber’s position has stimulated a series of replies from litigation funders. Here you will find a selection starting with articles in CDR (above) and Rachel Rothwell’s article in Law Society Gazette (below). A copy of the Parliamentary Briefing prepared by the Association of Litigation Funders of England & Wales can also be found below.

Storm raging over investing in litigation

Parliamentary Briefing - Litigation Funding and Access to Justice

Litigation: asset or liability? How contingency fees could change commercial litigation

Litigation powerhouse, Herbert Smith, recently held a seminar to discuss how anticipated changes to the costs and funding regime are likely to change the litigation landscape. Calunius chairman Leslie Perrin, was one of the speakers along with Lord Justice Jackson. Here is a copy of Herbert Smith’s bulletin following the seminar and a link to a fuller version of the report on Herbert Smith’s "litigation notes" blog.

Litigation Funding: Status and Issues

A report to be published later this month by researchers at the University of Oxford comes to the conclusion that litigation funding is useful in granting access to justice; the report further addresses the question whether effective regulation is needed within the sector to protect the integrity of all parties. Calunius participated in the market survey carried out by the researchers and we hope that with the help of the newly established Association of Litigation Funders, third party funders will agree to abide by the new Code of Conduct for Litigation Funding. For further information, please refer to the University’s website.

Taking on Tbilisi: litigation funding in action

If you are fortunate enough to subscribe to Global Arbitration Review you can read an article by Calunius’ Christian Stuerwald and Mick Smith deliberating the Fuchs and Kardassopoulos v Georgia ICSID case. It is unusual that details of an investment treaty claim supported by litigation funding are released into the public domain.

Christian's and Mick's original piece on the important role liigation funding played in the cases of Messrs’ Kardassopoulos and Fuchs against the Republic of Georgia can be found here.

An Analysis of Allianz’ decision to discontinue its litigation funding business

Christian Stuerwald analyses Allianz' decision to discontinue its Litigation Funding business in Europe and the UK.