2023 Chicago Conference on Litigation Finance

• Thursday, October 26
  • Breakfast and Registration
    • 8:00am - 9:00am
    • Room 100
  • Welcome Remarks
    • 9:00am - 9:15am
    • Room 100
  • Panel 1: The Policy Debate
    • 9:15am - 10:30am
    • Room 100

    • James Burnham, Vallecito Capital

      Tony Casey, University of Chicago Law School

      Maria Glover, Georgetown University Law Center

      Michael Kelley, Parker Poe

      Kathryn Spier, Harvard Law School

      This panel will explore the policy considerations involved in the debate over third-party litigation funding. Panelists will discuss whether such funding expands access to legal representation, whether it influences the quality of cases brought, and whether it changes the dynamics of how cases proceed.

      CLE Documents and Recommended Readings:

      Alternative Litigation Finance and the Limits of the Work-Product Doctrine

      Contracting on Litigation

      Unsuitable Litigation: Oversight of Third-Party Litigation Funding

  • Panel 2: Applications: Types of Cases and Types of Parties
    • 10:45am - 12:00pm
    • Room 100

    • Ronen Avraham, Tel Aviv University/Texas Law

      Christopher Catalano, Burford Capital

      Judge Marvin Isgur, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas

      Leonard Gail, Massey & Gail

      Joanna Shepherd, Emory University School of Law

      This panel will discuss the settings in which third-party litigation funding might be employed. Panelist will discuss whether policy arguments differ across contexts. For example, is third-party litigation funding appropriate in commercial cases, bankruptcy cases, tort cases, and so on. The panel will also discuss the different considerations that arise depending on which party to the litigation is using the financing

      CLE Documents and Recommended Readings:

      The Mysterious Market for Post-Settlement Litigant Finance

      The Business of Defense: Defense-Side Litigation Financing

      An Empirical Investigation of Third Party Consumer Litigant Funding

      Access to Justice Benefits From ‘Lawyer-Directed’ Litigation Finance Reproduced with permission. Published Feb. 25, 2020. Copyright 2023 by Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc. (800-372-1033)

  • Lunch
    • 12:00pm - 1:15pm
    • Room 500
  • Panel 3: The Nuts and Bolts of Litigation Finance
    • 1:15pm - 2:30pm
    • Room 100

    • Marc Carmel, McDonald Hopkins

      Craig Martin, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

      Alyx Pattison, Burford Capital

      Benjamin Waldin, Eimer Stahl LLP

      Judge Diane P. Wood, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

      This panel will cover the nuts and bolts of third-party litigation funding. Topics will include diligence and underwriting processes, deal economics, monitoring tools, and questions about control.

      CLE Documents and Recommended Readings:

      The MDL Revolution and Consumer Legal Funding

      Doing Due Diligence on Litigation Funders Reproduced with permission. Published January 2021. Copyright 2023 by Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc. (800-372-1033)

  • Panel 4: The Connections Between Insurance and Litigation Funding
    • 2:45pm - 4:00pm
    • Room 100

    • Tom Baker, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

      Rebecca Berrebi, Avenue 33, LLC

      Judge Stephanos Bibas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

      Jason Goldy, Alliant

      Joseph Menning, HUB International

      Brian Michalek, Saul Ewing LLP

      This panel will examine the intersection between judgment insurance and third-party litigation financing. The panelists will discuss the use of judgment insurance as a form of litigation finance and discuss how its use can change the policy considerations and management of cases.

      CLE Documents and Recommended Readings:

      Commercial Litigation Funding and Social Inflation: A Non-Sequitur

      Should the Law Preserve Party Control? Litigation Investment, Insurance Law, and Double Standards

      Where's the Insurance in Mass Tort Litigation?

  • Panel 5: The Challenges of Litigation Finance
    • 4:15pm - 5:30pm
    • Room 100

    • Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

      Kelly Daley, Burford Capital

      William Marra, Certum Group

      Anthony Sebok, Cardozo School of Law

      Keith Sharfman, St. John's University School of Law

      This panel will discuss the challenges facing the use of third-litigation funding going forward. One focus will be on court disclosure requirements—whether disclosure is appropriate and how it should best be handled. The panel will also discuss the related case law doctrines on champerty, maintenance, and barratry as well as other objections that have been raised to funding practices.

      CLE Documents and Recommended Readings:

      The Economic Case Against Forced Disclosure of Third Party Litigation Funding

      Mandatory Disclosure Rules for Dispute Financing

      Economic Conundrums in Search of a Solution: The Functions of Third-Party Litigation Finance

      The Shadows of Litigation Finance

  • Reception
    • 5:30pm - 7:00pm
    • Room 100