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Burford Capital In GBP200M IPO For Lawsuit Funding
Law Firm News |
2009/09/28 10:11
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Burford Capital Ltd., a closed-end investment company, said Mondayit wants to raise up to GBP200 million in a share placing on London'sjunior market to mark its place in a small but growing sector of fundsthat help finance companies' legal costs in commercial disputes. p Burford Capital said it will start out by investing in disputesbetween companies in the U.S., as well as in those going tointernational arbitration. Later on, it might expand into to otherjurisdictions, it said. A typical investment is expected to be for morethan $3 million and as high as $15 million. /pp By providing cash to companies to help foot their legal costs, theGuernsey company will be hoping to pick up a share of any awards orsettlements and then pay out money to its shareholders in the form ofdividends. /pp It didn't say what percentage of proceeds it would ask for, but similar funds take between 20% and 45%. /pp The company's investment adviser is Burford Group Ltd., set up by U.S. lawyers Christoper Bogart and Selvyn Seidel. /pp Third-party commercial dispute finance is a high growth market,helping plaintiffs or defendants get civil justice, Bogart said in astatement. He said these kinds of investment can generate highlyattractive returns that aren't tied to the performance of stockmarkets. /pp Bogart's previous jobs include serving as executive vice presidentand general counsel of Time Warner Inc., and as chief executive of TimeWarner Cable Ventures. More recently, he was CEO of Churchill VenturesLtd., a special purpose acquisition vehicle, or SPAC, that dissolved inDecember without having made an investment. He is also general partnerat a private fund, Glenavy Arbitration Investment Fund LP, with asimilar strategy to Burford Capital.
/ppa href=http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090928-702577.htmlRead more.../a
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Goldman Sachs Backs Off Blogger
Law Firm News |
2009/07/16 11:17
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In an article for a href=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202432304181amp;Goldman_Sachs_Backs_Down_in_Legal_Battle_With_BloggerThe American Lawyer/a, Brian Baxter reports that investment bank firm Goldman Sachs has cooled off on legal battles with Florida-based blogger Mike Morgan. The company quietly agreed to stipulations with Morgan last month.
Morgan agreed to a disclaimer on his page denying any affiliation with Goldman. In return, they will not interfere with his use of the name on the site.
A recent Rolling Stone a href=http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/06/goldman-sachs-engineering-every-major.htmlarticle/a by Matt Taibbi has brought more attention to the controversial issues Morgan discusses on the website. In the article Taibbi calls the firm a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.
Goldman Sachs has responded by saying the article is full of conspiracy theories and, We reject the assertion that we are inflators of bubbles and profiteers in busts, and we are painfully conscious of the importance of being a force of good.
The firm recently reported $3.4 billion in second quarter profits, exceeding all expectations. |
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Sotomayor nominated to high court
Law Firm News |
2009/05/26 09:23
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President Barack Obama chose federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, praising her as an inspiring woman with both the intellect and compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.
p
Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated, adding she has earned the respect of colleagues on the bench, the admiration of many lawyers who argue cases in her court and the adoration of her clerks, who look to her as a mentor./ppStanding next to Obama at the White House, Sotomayor recalled a childhood spent in a housing project in the Bronx as well as her upper-echelon legal career: I strive never to forget the real world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government./ppBarring the unexpected, Senate confirmation seems likely, given the large Democratic majority. If approved, she would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court, the third in history. She would succeed retiring Justice David Souter./ppSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he looked forward to working with both Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to confirm Judge Sotomayor as the first Hispanic and the third woman to sit on the court./p |
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Recession cuts law firm growth
Law Firm News |
2009/05/26 04:23
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| pThe growth in Israeli law firms' activity came to a halt in 2008, due to the recession and reduction in companies' business, which reduced demand for legal services, reports BDICoface in the BDICode 2009. /ppBDI says that the number of attorneys employed in Israel's 20 largest law firms was unchanged in 2008, compared with 2007, at 1,203. The number of law firms employing more than 100 attorneys was also unchanged, at five. /ppHowever, the number of partners at law firms rose by 8% in 2008, which BDI attributes to the firms' wish to keep employees by promoting them. /ppBDI says that 3,167 new attorneys entered the profession in 2008, 14% more than in 2007. BDI points to the steady growth in recent years in law graduates from colleges compared with universities: in 2008, 72% of all law graduates came from colleges. On the other hand, 95% of university law school graduates passed the bar, compared with 85% of college university graduates. /ppIn the 2008 BDI rankings, Herzog Fox amp; Neeman Law Office kept its first place ranking, and Goldfarb, Levy, Eran, Meiri amp; Co. kept its second place ranking. Meitar Liquornik Geva amp; Leshem Brandwein rose to third place from fifth place in 2007, and Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Nalevy, Greenberg amp; Co. fell to fifth place from third in 2007. Yigal Arnon amp; Co. stayed in fourth place. /p |
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Students who paid to attend inauguration sue
Law Firm News |
2009/05/14 10:04
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A lawsuit was filed in federal court Wednesday on behalf of more than 15,000 students who paid thousands to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration but reportedly were left out in the cold.
p
The lawsuit filed in Washington says Vienna, Va.-based Envision EMI promised middle, high school and college students across the country special access to the inauguration, parade and a black tie inaugural ball on Jan. 20./ppBut the lawsuit, filed by attorneys of two students, says once the students got to Washington, they had no tickets for the inauguration or parade. And the balls they attended were not official events connected to the inauguration./ppEnvision, a for-profit company that reportedly brought in $40 million from the inaugural sales, has said it would refund students $1 million. But the lawsuit says that would only reimburse each attendee about $65. The students were charged $2,380 to $2,620 and also had to pay for travel to Washington, formal wear for the ball and in some cases extra meals not included in the base cost./ppThese kids took odd jobs and raised funds from family, friends and strangers in order to participate in the defendants' inaugural youth conference to eyewitness a truly historical event, said Bernard DiMuro of DiMuroGinsberg PC, which filed the lawsuit jointly with another law firm, Hausfeld LLP. Instead all they saw was the inside of a bus or were dropped off near the Washington Monument to fend for themselves./p |
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Study Predicts 5 Percent Growth in Legal Spending
Law Firm News |
2009/05/07 10:48
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pA decline in legal spending by large companies is about to be reversed, according to a new survey of Fortune 1000 companies.
/ppThe study by market research firm BTI Consulting says large companies will increase legal spending on outside counsel nearly 5 percent over the next six months, according to a press release. The top areas for growth in legal spending will be in the areas of regulatory compliance (up 5.8 percent), bankruptcy (up 2.6 percent), securities and finance (up 2.1 percent), and employment (up .7 percent), an executive summary says (PDF)./ppThe projected increase in spending follows a significant drop in legal spending last year and in the first six months of 2009. When the expected increase is taken into account, overall legal spending is expected to decline just 1.4 percent for the year./ppIn a press release, Michael Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting, calls the findings “a big ray of sunshine in what has been a very stormy environment.” He cautions, however, that some law firms won’t benefit from the increase in spending./pp“Rather than a wholesale recovery, we are seeing a shift of resources to specific firms and practices that are well-positioned,” he said in the press release. “Large companies are sharing this renewed spending with a smaller group of law firms than just six months ago. Those firms caught unaware or unprepared for this shift will continue to face significant challenges and not reap the benefits of this increased spending.”/ppThe study is based on 370 interviews with corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies that average $19.4 million in outside counsel spending./p |
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