Opening Welcome Speech to LF Dealmakers Europe 2025
Opening Welcome Speech to LF Dealmakers Europe 2025 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel
Tuesday 24 June 2025
Louise Trayhurn Co Founder & Director of Crescient Ltd
Thank you Wendy.
Welcome ladies, gentlemen, Mr Justice Malek KC to the Royal Lancaster Hotel, which as it happens is named with a nod to a footnote in England’s history – the War of the Roses which took place between between 1455-1485 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York -. more on that later…
Although over 500 years may have passed since the Wars of the Roses, we find ourselves at a point of historical significance -will the Thom Tillis bill be the point at which litigation finance disappears as a footnote in the history of the civil justice system, or is this the opportunity to solidify the bedrock of this nascent industry? And today - Surely there can be no better time for unity and rational discussion to ensure litigation finance’s legacy. So
Here in the UK there have been challenges:
Whether it was the impact of PACCAR on funded returns;
The Court of Appeal discussion on multipliers potentially making LFAS unenforceable;
The Christine Riefa denial as a class rep on certification;
The Justin Le Patourel loss against BT;
The steep decline in commercial cases filed in the Courts of England and Wales generally, as well as the marked decline in cases filed in the CAT
The criticism of “creative cases being shoe-horned” into the CAT such as Thames Water
The loss of Bittylicious;
The challenges demonstrated in GLO claims;
Funder waterfalls being ripped up as “all bets are off” on settlement and distribution in the CAT
Public spats over Merricks v Mastercard
The PR attack from the Chamber of Commerce on insufficient outcomes to consumers.
And we will hear later in more detail why some of those cases could be categorised as mistakes by the funding industry.
AND ON TO MORE RECENT international challenges:
The Chamber of Commerce-backed “European Justice Forum” and the “Fair Civil Justice organization” and its associated PR campaign against funding
The rallying of the insurance industry against funders starting with Chubb but
Swiftly followed by other trade bodies, and corporates such as Johnson & Johnson now pledging their support for Senator Thom Tillis’ “Tackling Predatory Litigation Funding Bill”.
There have been positives too:
Marks & Clark successful 19.8 Representative Action (the first since Lloyd & Google failed);
Justin Guttman in the Court of Appeal approving ring fenced returns at an early stage;
The CJC Report – which adopted the European Legal Institute principles – thank you and hat tip to Professor Suzanne Augenhofer our keynote speaker tomorrow morning). The report suggests a swift overhaul of PACCAR, fixing the DBA regime to allow better alignment of incentives with law firms, as well as suggestions to better oversee what has been a nascent industry as well as a raft of further recommendations which will be analysed later today; and
Lest we forget- at the last count the Competition Appeal Tribunal had over 60 cases filed, worth more than £160 billion, all backed by litigation finance.
So where are we now?
Well regarding the Thom Tillis Bill you have the benefit of some of the world’s leading experts in the room –and next door there are IP specialists too - you can see on your Dealmaker app – some will be arguing against the bill to allow inventors to protect their inventions and some will be arguing for in the form of corporate support for the bill. As a starter for 10 I’ve spotted Boris Ziser of Schulte Roth and I’ll be asking him about the wide impact of the bill on Private Credit institutions’ tax arrangements, the ability (or not) of pension funds to continue investing in the space and the inability for setting off losses. I’ll also be quizzing Travis Lenkner of Burford Capital on the bill’s procedural steps including the Byrd bath process of the bill. I note we also have Kenny Henderson of CMS who can provide the Chamber of Commerce perspective.
As far as funding in the UK and Europe – well, as ever, there is opportunity here for the dealmakers in this room to
shape a regime that works for all stakeholders;
to increase efficiency in the industry;
to bring the detractors onboard; and as you’ll hear this afternoon
the opportunities to deploy capital in the UK and Europe as well as in the US…
Finally…and before I hand over to Mr Justice Malek KC for his keynote speech a concluding thought:
The funding industry needs to put the interests of society front and centre of its business;
As gatekeepers of what gets to proceed, we need to be responsible about what we fund;
We have to be honest about our mistakes;
But we also need a clear framework from the judiciary that allows the dealmakers in this room to predict the financial impact of their successful decisions as well as their mistakes.
If we understand that nuance, our contracts will start to be relied upon, the job of the judiciary will be that much easier, ultimately promoting better access to justice, better deal flow, better pipelines, more predictable internal rates of return and improved risk-adjusted returns on investment.
By the way- if you were listening earlier-The War of the Roses ended in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field when Henry VII claimed victory over Richard III, united the red rose symbolising the House of Lancaster and the white rose symbolizing the House of York to create the Tudor rose. The Tudor dynasty flourished for over a century. The Tudor rose is still worn to this day as part of the uniform of the Yeomen Warders also known as the Beefeaters – who guard the Tower of London. The Beefeaters are the UK's oldest existing military corps and the oldest of the royal bodyguards dating from their establishment back in 1485 by Henry VII after the battle of Bosworth.
The eagle-eyed of you may have noticed - These beautiful Tudor Roses - which were purchased yesterday from the Westminster Abbey gift shop and I have one for today’s keynote speaker…
Now we are honoured to have insight direct from Mr Justice Malek KC, Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, a Deputy High Court Judge, a leading commercial barrister at 3 Verulam Buildings with heavyweight specialisms particularly in banking, fraud, and financial services. He is also General Editor of Phipson on Evidence having also contributed to several legal texts, and he has played a key role in shaping disclosure practices in the UK courts.
So having suitably embarrassed him with those quotes, may I now hand over to Mr Justice Malek KC who will be speaking to you until 9.45am.