Here is the summary report of "Hot Legal Topics" for the past four days focusing on mass litigation, litigation funding, and legal tech:

Hot Legal Topics — Tuesday

Period: last 4 days (Fri-Mon)

New Laws / EU Directives

• Transparency Requirements for Litigation Funders in the USA: The regulation of litigation funding continues to advance. In New Jersey, a new bill has been promoted that mandates the disclosure of contracts with third-party litigation funders [1]. Such regulations can significantly influence the dynamics and structuring of future class actions.

Federal Supreme Court / Landmark Judgments

• Platform Liability (Frankfurt District Court): Frankfurt District Court has imposed a penalty of 100,000 euros against Facebook parent company Meta [2, 3]. This was justified by the fact that false accusations online were deleted too slowly [3]. The judgment has signal effect for platform operator liability and provides points of attack for mass proceedings against tech giants for inadequate moderation processes.
• Mass Damage Claims Against Banks (Essen District Court): Following a break-in at a Gelsenkirchen savings bank with millions in loot, the first civil proceedings have begun [4]. Numerous injured customers are suing for damages, which shows high bundling potential for similar cases of inadequate security precautions at financial institutions [4].
• Billion-Dollar Settlement in Catastrophe Liability: A US federal judge has approved a $100 million settlement in the case of shareholder lawsuits against Hawaiian Electric [5]. The allegation was that the utility's executives took inadequate fire prevention measures prior to the devastating wildfires on Maui (2023) [5].
• Consolidations in Medical Device Sector (MDL): In the USA, strong waves of mass litigation continue to form in the pharmaceutical sector. Lawsuits against Boston Scientific for defective spinal cord stimulators have now been centralized in a nationwide Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) [6]. At the same time, a $50 million settlement is pending in the case of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, which should settle almost all lawsuits regarding neurological side effects [7].

Trends in Litigation Funding & Legal Tech

• European Cartel Class Actions Through Litigation Funders: An alliance of more than 20 European publishers supported by litigation funder LitFin is suing Google for approximately 640 million euros in damages [8]. The background is alleged abuses in the ad-tech business [8]. This shows the increasing importance of litigation funding in enforcing gigantic cartel damage claims in Europe.
• Market Consolidation: The litigation financing market is increasingly professionalizing. Rocade Capital has acquired Law Finance Group, creating a massive platform with more than $2.3 billion in provided capital [9]. According to the CEO, this transaction is a clear sign that in the maturing market, it is increasingly about "picking the winners" [9].
• Risks for Funders and Investors: An Australian court has decided that litigation funders must be liable for the opposing party's legal costs after a billion-dollar lawsuit they financed was dismissed [10]. Discrepancies in payout ratios are also causing conflicts: The inventor of Vodacom's "Please Call Me" service is taking legal action against his former litigation funders as they claim 40% of the settlement amount obtained [10].
• Legal Tech / AI Liability: The US state of Florida has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman [11]. It alleges that ChatGPT was falsely marketed as safe, although the AI could promote violence and endanger children [11]. This could mark the beginning of a new wave of consumer and mass litigation against providers of generative AI.