Watch Rimon Partners John Hanley and Douglas Schneller in this webcast with Celesq as they discuss ethical issues which can arise in litigation funding. This webcast is presented by West LegalEdcenter. CLE credits are available. Event Description Recently published ethics opinions and commentary have produced a growing body of advisory materials for attorneys working with…

Litigation financing is on the rise in the United States and provides some claimants a valuable means for paying the costs of pursuing a legal claim. Lawyer involvement in litigation financing transactions raises many ethical issues for a lawyer such as competence, duty of loyalty, the potential waiver of privilege and interference by a third…

On July 19, 2021, the parties in Sax v. Fast Track Investments filed a motion with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the pending appeal and to withdraw questions the Ninth Circuit had submitted to the New York Court of Appeals.  The legal finance contracts had stipulated that New York law apply and the Ninth Circuit felt…

An issue that keeps some litigation funders up at night concerns the possibility of a claimant filing for bankruptcy after receiving funding and before their underlying case is resolved.  Proceeds from the case may become property of the bankruptcy estate and made available to the transferor’s creditors.  A carefully drafted litigation funding agreement (“LFA”) can…

No Sure Thing! Ninth Circuit questions whether litigation funding advances made against a portfolio of cases runs afoul of New York usury laws. On June 11, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit certified a question for the New York Court of Appeals: whether a litigation financing agreement qualified as a “loan”…

On April 22, 2020, Bankruptcy Judge Sean H. Lane of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Bankruptcy Court”) issued an important opinion[1] regarding claim disallowance under Section 502(d) of the United States Bankruptcy Code (“Section 502(d)”).[2] In brief, the Bankruptcy Court, like other courts including the Third Circuit Court of…

Reporting and worried speculation about the coronavirus outbreak is widespread, and the potential disruption to global manufacturing and commerce may be profound.[1] Suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and end-users whose businesses rely on vendors or other market participants affected by coronavirus may face significant business and legal risks, to say nothing of financial distress, insolvency or bankruptcy.…

Many lawyers have heard the one about the consultation with a new client.  Lawyer: “You have a pretty good case.  How much justice can you afford?”  It’s funny but it also distills a troubling reality – high stakes commercial claims are costlier to assert and the likelihood of success more uncertain than ever; clients are…

In Energy Future Holdings Corp. v. Morgan Stanley Capital Grp., Inc., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 18458 (3d Cir. 2019) (“EFH”), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an important, albeit nonprecedential, opinion about whether adequate protection payments and plan distributions made during a bankruptcy case should be re-allocated in accordance with the…

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the rejection in bankruptcy by a debtor-licensor of an executory trademark license does not terminate the licensee’s right to use the trademark but instead has the same effect as a breach of that contract outside of bankruptcy.[1] Consequently, the licensee may continue to use the trademark…