Mr Justice Norris has now handed down judgment following the consequentials hearing in the landmark Lloyds/HBOS Litigation: Sharp & Ors v Blank & Ors [2020] EWHC 1870 (Ch). Norris J resoundingly refused permission to appeal the judgment on liability and made a number of interesting findings on the adverse costs position of the claimants, and … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills have contributed the England and Wales chapter of The Securities Litigation Review. Now in its sixth edition, The Securities Litigation Review, edited by William Savitt of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, is a guided introduction to the class action regimes for securities claims in the key jurisdictions across the globe, providing a … Read more

Burford Capital, one of the largest litigation funders, has been in the press regularly since the publication of a series of tweets and opinion pieces by Muddy Waters (the US investment firm) which also short-sold Burford shares. These events triggered a period of weakness in Burford’s share price. Burford contended that its share price fell … Read more

In a recent ruling in the Forex litigation, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has held that the question of which of two competing applicants can represent the potential claimant class should be determined at the same time as the CAT considers whether the case can proceed at all: Michael O’Higgins FX Class Representative Ltd v … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP have published an article in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law considering how the findings in Sharp v Blank [2019] EWHC 3078 (Ch) (also known as The Lloyds/HBOS litigation) may be of assistance in interpreting sections 90 and 90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Lloyds/HBOS is the only securities … Read more

In a recent decision which will be welcomed by defendants to funded group litigation, including financial institutions, the High Court has ordered security for costs against a commercial litigation funder in Rowe v Ingenious Media Holdings PLC [2020] EWHC 235 (Ch). The decision follows the court’s approach to security applications against litigation funders in the RBS Rights … Read more

A decision handed down by the Court of Appeal today has dismissed the suggestion that there is a fixed limit on a commercial litigation funder’s liability for the other side’s costs when a claim it has funded fails: Chapelgate Master Fund Opportunity Ltd v Money [2020] EWCA Civ 246. This is a significant decision and represents … Read more