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Clash of the Conferences
The inaugural LITFINCON LA took place on September 17-19, at the snazzy Maybourne Beverly Hills. (J-Lo was spotted in Dante, the rooftop bar.) Meanwhile, on the same dates in New York, another litigation finance industry conference, LF Dealmakers, was taking place.
The schedule clash did not appear to hamper attendance at either event, LITFINCON LA reportedly counting around 150 delegates and LF Dealmakers around 250. The fact that two industry conferences can take place on the same day, in the same country (albeit on opposite coasts) and be well-attended is surely a sign of the continued growth of and interest in the litigation finance industry. Nevertheless, we guess that both organizers will more closely monitor each other’s schedules next year.
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Best Coast?
The West (Best?) Coast, and LA in particular, have not been known as the main hotbed of US litigation finance, at least on the funder side; that honor being firmly retained by New York. However, the broad demand for litigation finance across litigation and industry sectors, coupled with the high volume of litigation activity, seems to be bringing California into the industry’s focus, as evidenced by the diverse mix of attendees at the LA conference.
The founders of Erso Capital deliberately selected California for Erso’s US headquarters, as we saw significant opportunity in the West Coast legal market and less market concentration than New York. It is gratifying to see LA start to feature on the litigation finance conference circuit and we hope that continues.
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Insurance
As has been the trend in recent years, the insurance market featured heavily, with representatives of various brokers and MGAs appearing on multiple panels, including a dedicated insurance panel (“Insurance: An Evolving Game Changer”) on day 1 of the conference.
The continued push by insurers into the litigation finance sector comes in spite of the significant dent in the Judgment Preservation Insurance (JPI) market left by recent and expected losses, including the well-publicized reversal of the $1.6 billion judgment against IBM, which was insured to the tune of $500 million. The necessary market correction of increasing premium rates and lower coverage limits was acknowledged by most. “Evolving” indeed.
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Disclosure and discovery
Can any lit fin industry conference (or indeed any panel involving funders) be complete without a discussion about the perils and pitfalls of disclosure of funding arrangements and discovery of information shared with funders? Apparently not.
However, unquestionably the highlight of LITFINCON was the “Judicial Panel”, featuring Judges McNeel, Kewalramani, and Eskridge, sharing their approaches when considering these issues in cases before them, as well as their general insights on the pros and cons of a potential uniform regulatory framework versus the current patchwork of differing approaches between states, courts and judges. No clear consensus, of course, but a refreshing and fascinating discussion.
– James Blick
Co-Founder, Erso Capital