Bloomberg recently interviewed Certum Group’s William Marra as part of its coverage of efforts by commercial liability insurers to require the disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements. Marra explained to Bloomberg that “[t]he disclosure of litigation funding risks putting impecunious litigants at a systematic disadvantage in our legal system,” adding mandatory disclosure “can disclose to defendants very valuable information, including who has funding, and critically, who does not have funding.” Marra further responded to the argument that litigation funders might fuel frivolous litigation. “To the contrary, the evidence shows that funders serve as a very effective screen, only backing the most meritorious cases, and if anything, likely resulting in fewer weak cases getting filed,” Marra said. This statements builds on arguments Marra previously advantaged in a Vanderbilt Law Review article about litigation funding. The Bloomberg article is available here .
Certum’s William Marra has been elected to the Board of Directors of the International Legal Finance Association, the litigation finance industry’s leading advocacy group. Will joins five other new members of ILFA’s Board, including: Marcel Wegmüller, the co-founder and CEO of Nivalion; David Perla, the Vice Chair of Burford Capital; Erik Bomans, the CEO of Deminor Recovery Services; Kacey Wolmer, the CEO of Contingency Capital; Rob Rothkopf, the founder and Managing Partner of Balance Legal Capital. “We are honored to welcome Marcel, David, Erik, Kacey, Rob, and William to ILFA’s Board of Directors,” said Paul Kong, the Executive Director of ILFA. “Each brings exceptional expertise, deep industry insight, and a demonstrated commitment to the responsible growth of legal finance. Their leadership will strengthen ILFA’s work to promote transparency, expand access to justice, and support the continued global development of our industry.” “I am delighted to join ILFA’s Board and assist with its important public policy work,” Will Marra said. “Litigation finance helps level the playing field and ensures cases are resolved based on their merits, not the size of a party’s checkbook. LFA’s advocacy for claimholders who need litigation finance is more important now than ever before.” The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) represents the global commercial legal finance community, and its mission is to engage, educate and influence legislative, regulatory and judicial landscapes as the voice of the commercial legal finance industry. It is the only global association of commercial legal finance companies and is an independent, non-profit trade association promoting the highest standards of operation and service for the commercial legal finance sector. ILFA has local chapter representation around the world.
Bloomberg and Law360 have highlighted Certum Group’s recent launch of a managed services organization, Certum Legal Solutions, to help law firms handle critical day-to-day operations. Last week, Certum Group announced the launch of an MSO as part of Certum Group’s next-generation risk transfer platform. The MSO complements Certum’s existing businesses providing litigation finance and litigation insurance solutions to law firms and claimholders on both side of the “v.” Certum is the only company in the nation providing litigation funding, litigation insurance, and MSO services. Bloomberg reported that “[i]nterest in MSO deals [is] on the rise,” while emphasizing that Certum Legal Solutions “will handle case intake and discovery support tasks done by a mix of attorneys and non-lawyers.” Law360 highlighted Certum’s move into the MSO space “makes it the only litigation funder to offer a one-stop shop” with funding, insurance, and operations all under one roof. The Bloomberg article is available here . The Law360 article is available here .