61% say uncertain economic climate impacts
their likeliness to consider legal finance solutions, and 57% are
likely to finance enforcement and recovery services
NEW
YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Burford
Capital, the leading global finance and asset management firm
focused on law, today releases new independent research that
reveals how businesses are finding solutions to extract greater
value from legal claims and judgments, based on a survey of 350
GCs, heads of litigation and senior in-house lawyers in the US,
Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
The economic climate has amplified longstanding pressures on
businesses, including legal departments. With research released
earlier this year by Burford showing that GCs expect commercial
disputes to increase in the next two years, how companies pay for
and extract value from their meritorious claims is more important
than ever. Burford's new report on the economics of commercial
disputes and enforcement demonstrates a desire by senior in-house
lawyers to maximize the value of claims, judgments and unenforced
awards, without adding to costs. Notably, 61% of those surveyed say
that uncertain or challenging conditions would impact their
likeliness to consider legal finance solutions.
Christopher Bogart, CEO of
Burford Capital, said: "Companies account for well over fifty
percent of Burford's business today, including very large Fortune
500 global companies. As the former GC of such a company, I am
awake to the financial pressures legal departments face, especially
in uncertain economic times. The new research confirms GCs' desire
to achieve optimal financial outcomes with their claims, judgments
and awards. At Burford, we are strategic partners for businesses
seeking to reduce risk and maximize value both through our legal
finance offerings and our enforcement and recovery services. More
in-house counsel are realizing the innovative ways we can help them
avoid leaving money on the table, and the research affirms
that."
Consistent with the growth of its business with leading
companies, Burford on a group-wide basis recently entered into a
$325 million transaction with a
Fortune 500 company to finance a portfolio of matters in its
affirmative recovery program, allowing the company to recognize
immediate value from those claims.
Key findings from the research include:
Economic pressures impact how clients manage their costs and
partners, with the majority of those surveyed likely to seek
cost-sharing solutions.
- Over half (52%) say they are likely to seek cost-sharing
solutions with counsel or legal finance providers to mitigate the
impact of the current economic climate.
- Although many say they are likely to implement cost-saving
measures to mitigate these impacts (44%), in-house lawyers seem to
favor cost-shifting over cost-cutting.
- Aside from relevant legal expertise, the top attributes
in-house lawyers seek in outside counsel are efficiency and speed
(89%), the ability to provide accurate budgets (87%) and
familiarity with legal finance (69%).
Unenforced awards remain a problem for businesses, and even
more so in the current climate.
- Vanishingly few (2%) say they recovered 100% of the value of
their judgments and awards over the last five years and a clear
majority (61%) state that their opponents voluntarily pay their
outstanding judgments and awards less than 50% of the time.
- The consequence of slow-to-pay or fail-to-pay judgment debtors
is many millions of dollars in lost value to businesses at a time
when legal teams wish to minimize costs and maximize
recoveries.
Enforceability is a key consideration for litigation and
arbitration strategy.
- Top perceived barriers to enforcement are jurisdiction and
cost.
- More than three quarters (77%) view ease and likelihood of
recoverability as important factors in whether to pursue
claims.
- Immediate liquidity is a key benefit for funded enforcement and
recovery.
- More than half (57%) say they are likely to use financed
enforcement and recovery services for a pending judgment or
award.
The 2023 Commercial Dispute & Enforcement Economics Survey
can be downloaded on Burford's website. The independent research
was conducted by GLG in June
2023.
About Burford Capital
Burford Capital is the leading global finance and asset
management firm focused on law. Its businesses include litigation
finance and risk management, asset recovery and a wide range of
legal finance and advisory activities. Burford is publicly traded
on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BUR) and the London Stock
Exchange (LSE: BUR), and it works with companies and law firms
around the world from its offices in New
York, London, Chicago, Washington,
DC, Singapore,
Dubai, Sydney and Hong
Kong.
For more information, please visit www.burfordcapital.com.
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or
the solicitation of an offer to buy any ordinary shares or other
securities of Burford.
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SOURCE Burford Capital