Bristows, Carey Olsen secures CISX listing for litigation fund

The Jersey-based third party litigation fund aims to finance cases being heard in England and Wales.

It comes after the Civil Justice Council agreed a ­voluntary code of conduct that all members of the newly formed Association of Litigation Funders of England & Wales will sign up to.

Bristows corporate partner Iain Redford said it was the first time a litigation fund had been listed on the CISX and as a consequence the firm had needed to explain to regulators the ­viability of the emerging asset class.

“Litigation investment is an evolving market offering significant growth ­opportunities,” he said. “An increasing number of claimants are seeking third-party funding, making it a growing asset class.”

Redford led a team of four at Bristows that included partner Marek Petecki, associate Leane Shankster and tax senior associate Sam Rippon. The firm instructed Carey Olsen partner James Mulholland and of counsel Daniel O’Connor to provide offshore advice.

Bristows attracted ­Argentum Capital after it approached the firm about potentially funding cases.

“It took quite a while to get them to market,” explained Redford. “It’s about finding the right cases to fund. Argentum wants cases that have around a 70 per cent chance of success so it needs all the infrastructure of a business in place before it can agree that and go to market.”

Lord Justice Jackson ­recommended the broader use of litigation funding to help get cases to court in his seminal report on civil ­litigation funding reforms.