Hot Legal Topics

According to the Legal Funding Journal, the aggregate claim values in European opt-out class actions have exceeded €200 billion. Courts are increasingly scrutinising the underlying litigation funding agreements, signalling growing regulatory attention toward mass litigation in Europe.

Law firm Pinsent Masons has informed the UK Law Commission that a new opt-out regime for consumer class actions could become a "cash cow" for litigation funders. The warning concerns the planned reform of UK class action law.

A claims management company specialising in motor finance litigation has entered insolvency, owing money to the already collapsed litigation funder Woodville. The case exposes the financial risks within the ongoing UK mass litigation wave against motor finance providers.

The Higher Regional Court of Hamm has declared price adjustment clauses in Eon district heating contracts to be unlawful in proceedings brought by a consumer protection organisation. The ruling could open the door to claims by numerous district heating customers against price increases and may prompt further consumer litigation against energy providers.

The Inventors Defense Alliance is urging the US federal rulemaking body to reject a comprehensive disclosure requirement for litigation funding, arguing that such a rule would give well-resourced defendants a tactical advantage over independent inventors in multi-party proceedings.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has described litigation funding as a "malignancy" and is backing a Republican tax bill aimed at changing the tax treatment of third-party funding in legal disputes. The statement increases political pressure on the litigation funding industry, which finances mass claims in the United States.