We actively engage with government, legislators, regulators and other policy makers to shape the regulatory environment for litigation funding in Australia. By working with a Funder Member of the Association of Litigation Funders of Australia, parties accessing litigation funding are assured that they will find an organisation that meets the high quality standards that should define this industry.
External link for The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia
Level 26, 1-7 Bligh Street Sydney NSW
Sydney, NSW 2000, AU
Thank you to everyone who braved the Sydney weather last night to attend the annual AALF member drinks night. A fun night with friends and colleagues!! John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio , Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy. .
What an amazing night at TIVA last night! It was fantastic to see so many of our old and new Members and to have an opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work, passion and effort to make the legal finance industry in Australia more collegiate and better for all involved. A special thank you to Stephen Conrad who stepped down as a director of AALF. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you and we wish you all the very best for the future. More photo's to come! John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia looks forward to having 120 of its Members under one roof tomorrow night for its annual drinks function at the TIVA Bar. It will be a great opportunity to thank all AALF Board Members and Members for their contribution to AALF and the legal finance industry in Australia. AALF thanks the following Members: Aequitas Litigation Funding, Balance Legal Capital LLP, CASL, Court House Capital, Fortress Investment Group, Hartwell Funds, Ironbark Funding, Litigation Lending Services Limited, Banton Group, FTI Consulting, Johnson Winter Slattery, KordaMentha, Litica, MA Financial Group, Mayweathers, McGrathNicol, Piper Alderman, William Roberts Lawyers, Law In Order Pty Ltd, Mackay Chapman, Shine Lawyers, YIMBA, HFW, Ebury Australia, Sedgwick and Sapere. AALF thanks the following Board Members: John Walker, Tom McDonald, Conrad Stephen,Doug Hayter, Simon Burnett, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy.
The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia is pleased to announce Sapere as its newest Associate Member. Sapere is a leading expert services firm in Australasia in the areas of economics, forensic accounting, valuations and public policy. Sapere is currently providing expert witness and forensic accounting services to the litigation funding market. We look forward to working with Sue Friend and the entire Sapere team. https://srgexpert.com/ John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia is pleased to announce Sedgwick as its newest Associate Member. Sedgwick is a large global organisation with offices in 80 countries, including the US, Canada, Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Australia and NZ, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and the UK. Here in Australia, Sedgwick has offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and Perth. The capacity in which Sedgwick operates in the litigation funding market is via the provision of Claims Administration Services and Expert Witness/Litigation Services for Class Actions, Mass Torts and Commercial Disputes. We look forward to working with Amanda Hillier and Kimberley Daley and the entire Sedgwick team. https://lnkd.in/gp5cYRFu John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia (AALF) is excited to announce Ebury Australia as its newest Associate Member. Ebury is a fin-tech company specialising in international payments, collections, and foreign exchange services. Founded in London in 2009, the company has grown its global market presence to a network of 31 offices in 21 countries across Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia, servicing 50,000+ clients worldwide, with 1,600 employees. Ebury has offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. We look forward to working alongside Ben Pirrie, Rick Roache, James Swerling and the entire Ebury team. https://www.ebury.au/ John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia was very grateful to The Hon. Andrew Bell, Chief Justice of New South Wales for his opening keynote address to our inaugural Commercial Disputes Conference in Sydney. His Honour's speech on the growth of the litigation funding industry, regulation, important recent decisions in Australia and the United Kingdom, litigation funding of international arbitration, class actions and contingency fees was insightful and informative for all attendees. Read the Chief Justice's speech here: https://lnkd.in/gmWfTwwD John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
The Hon. Andrew Bell, Chief Justice of New South Wales has delivered the opening keynote address to the 2024 The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia Commercial Disputes Conference in Sydney. In a wide-ranging address, the Chief Justice detailed the growth of the litigation funding industry, calls in some quarters for increasing regulation, important recent decisions in Australia and the United Kingdom, litigation funding of international arbitration, class actions and contingency fees including the impact of 2019 Victorian legislation which permitted contingency fees in class actions brought in the Supreme Court of Victoria. His Honour observed that: “Victoria appears now to be (at least numerically) the preferred forum for the hearing of class actions, driven by plaintiff lawyer funded claims. This is not, I respectfully venture to suggest, by reason of any perceived superiority of Victorian judges or the expedition of Victorian case management and civil appeals when compared to other jurisdictions but, rather and principally, because of the opportunity for solicitors to take a slice of the outcome of litigation which, as is well known, will frequently be settled for very large sums, depending on the nature of the claims. One might well think that this only illustrates the conflict of interest at play in circumstances where forums other than Victoria are available and where cases with no particular connection to Victoria may be managed and resolved with equal or superior despatch and efficiency and with greater convenience.” Read the Chief Justice’s speech here: https://lnkd.in/gmJX3fXi
The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia was thrilled to host its first ever Commercial Disputes and Legal Finance conference at the Herbert Smith Freehills office on 13 August 2024. A fantastic turnout with over 100 people in attendance in person and virtually! The Hon. Chief Justice Bell, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, gave the opening keynote speech, giving us some fantastic insights on the interaction between legal finance and the Court. Dr Felicity Bell, the Deputy Director of the Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession and a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law & Justice, presented an insightful closing keynote speech about the impact of AI on litigation. The first panel, moderated by Michelle Silvers, consisted of the Hon. John Middleton AM KC , Maurice Thompson & Tom McDonald, speaking on legal finance as an alternative capital source. The second panel, moderated by John Winter CAE GAICD, consisted of Stuart Price, Kathy Sozou & Matt Kennedy, focused on the insolvency landscape in 2024 and beyond. The third panel, moderated by Tom McDonald, consisted of Dawna Wright, Gitanjali Bajaj and the Hon. Robert McDougall KC talking about the recent developments in arbitration and legal finance. Some photo's of the event are below, including AALF's first ever Perth event! A huge thank you to Sophia Kailis for hosting 12 highly caffeinated guests at HSF at a very unfriendly hour of the morning. John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Stephen Conrad but with a happy heart we welcome Emma Colantonio as director of The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia (now known as AALF). Stephen Conrad has been a valued AALF team member since 2021 and he is a true gentleman and friend to all of us. Thank you, Stephen, for all of your time, interest and enthusiasm! Emma Colantonio is a Senior Investment Manager with Litigation Lending Services Limited. Emma holds both Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Business degrees from Western Sydney University. Emma was admitted to the legal profession in 2010 and has extensive experience from roles in both private practice, most recently as Senior Associate with MinterEllison, and in-house as senior legal counsel for one of Australia’s major banks. Commencing with Litigation Lending in 2021, Emma has specialist knowledge and experience in large complex litigation including in the areas of financial services disputes, regulatory investigations, consumer and commercial disputes and insolvency. We look forward to celebrating these milestones at the Member drinks event on 26 September 2024. John Walker, Tom McDonald, Stephen Conrad, Simon Burnett, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Emma Colantonio, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
Final reminder to get your in-person or virtual tickets to The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia Commercial Disputes Conference. It is an amazing lineup of presenters and topics and one not to be missed! Today is the last day to get tickets via the links provided: In-person tickets: https://lnkd.in/gBK7BXRR Virtual tickets: https://lnkd.in/g_irxq4b John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Stephen Conrad, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy
As we approach our first conference on Commercial Disputes and Legal Finance, The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia is thrilled to announce that the Hon. Chief Justice Bell, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, will be giving the welcome and opening keynote speech. Chief Justice Bell's keynote speech will be a fantastic opportunity to hear about the commercial disputes environment from a judge's perspective. We are also thrilled to announce that following our three guest panels, Dr Felicity Bell, the Deputy Director of the Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession and a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law & Justice, will present a keynote speech at the conclusion of the conference about the impact of AI on litigation. The conference will be held on the 13th of August at the office of Herbert Smith Freehills, Sydney, from 8am. This conference will be held both in person and virtually. We look forward to hosting you at this conference. There are limited in-person tickets, so please get in quick! In-person tickets: https://lnkd.in/gBK7BXRR Virtual tickets: https://lnkd.in/g_irxq4b John Walker, Tom McDonald, Simon Burnett, Stephen Conrad, Doug Hayter, Sophia Kailis, Michelle Silvers, Stuart Price, Maya Shallita and Pip Murphy