“An excellent book which serves as timely overview of the entire litigation funding landscape” is the verdict of Julian Chamberlayne, a partner at Stewarts Law, on The Law Society’s Litigation Funding Handbook which was edited by Harbour litigation director Rocco Pirozzolo. He also wrote the overview on the Jackson Reforms and chapters on third party funding and after the event insurance.
Chamberlayne, whose review was published in The Law Society Gazette, credits the book with being a surprisingly easy read given the technical subject matter. He describes the chapter on cost budgeting as full of nuggets of wisdom, identifying tactical issues that may arise and providing a useful list of tips and recommends reading the book to navigate your litigation practice through the perfect storm of the Legal Services Act and the Jackson reforms.
He also reminds readers: “Even if you do not intend to offer all of the funding options to your client, you still have a professional obligation to advise your client about them.” He highlights the consequences of failing to do so which include complaints to the Legal Ombudsman, difficulties in cost recovery, or becoming part of a growing trend in actions in negligence relating to litigation funding. His warning concludes with: “You will also be at a serious competitive disadvantage if you are unable to offer innovative funding solutions to your clients, because others already do and clients increasingly shop (and browse) around.”
Other contributors to the book include Professor of Law Rachael Mulheron (Queen Mary University of London), James Popperwell (Macfarlanes), Janet Tilley and Greg Cox (Colemans CTTS), David Marshall (Anthony Gold) and Alistair Kinley (BLM). The book is available from The Law Society at a cost of £69.95. For more information, click here.
For the full book review, click here.