The Center on Civil Justice at NYU School of Law will host a one-day conference on the subject of legislative efforts to regulate third-party legal funding with the goal of connecting the debates on key legal funding issues taking place in academia and among practitioners, lobbyists and legislators, in the US and in Europe.

The conference will consist of three panels, each focusing on a different legal funding reform effort. These include U.S. legislative efforts to regulate commercial litigation financing and consumer legal funding, in addition to an examination of European and other international legislative attempts to regulate third-party funding. The bill sponsors have been invited to present, along with experts on the topics the bill covers.

The event will take place October 28, 2024, 9am - 3:30pm. We encourage everyone to attend in-person at Greenberg Lounge of Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South, NY, NY 10012.

For those who cannot do so, the event will also livestreamed via Zoom. A link will be sent out to everyone who RSVPs.

This event has been approved to offer a total of 5 New York State CLE credits in the category of Areas of Professional Practice. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional; it is appropriate for both experienced and newly admitted attorneys.

The event is free of charge, and lunch will be provided. RSVP here: https://forms.gle/Z5UuQcB2geNhRe7dA.

9:15 AM – 9:30 AM – Opening Remarks by Sheila Birnbaum (Interim Director, Center on Civil Justice at NYU School of Law) and Eric Schuller (President, Alliance for Responsible Consumer Funding)

9:30 AM – 11:00 AM - Panel 1: Disclosure of Commercial Litigation Financing Agreements

While much of the state legislation enacted on third-party litigation finance has focused on consumer legal funding, states and the federal government have begun to think about the regulation of commercial litigation funding as well. Specifically, the issue of whether, under what circumstances, and to what extent to disclose commercial third-party funding has been one of the most significant policy questions facing the industry for years. Legislation has been introduced or passed in West Virginia, Wisconsin, and in the US Congress regarding disclosure of commercial funding agreements. We will discuss these bills and others and how they will impact the commercial funding landscape.

• Moderator: Emily Siegel (Senior Reporter, Bloomberg Law)

Panelists:

• Mark Behrens (Partner, Shook Hardy)
• Dai Wai Chin Feman (Managing Director, Parabellum Capital)
• Maya Steinitz (Professor, BU Law)
• Andrew Cohen (Managing Director, Burford)

11:15 AM – 12:45 PM – Panel 2: New York A.115 - Consumer Funding

Much, if not most, state legislation focuses specifically on consumer legal funding and not commercial litigation financing. New York State alone has five different bills. This panel chooses to focus on A.115, which has passed the New York State Senate but not the Assembly – the bill that has advanced the furthest. This bill caps returns to funders at the military lending rate. Other bills do not place any cap at all but require full disclosure of the contract. This panel will discuss what is the best way forward to regulate the consumer funding products in New York and across the country.

Moderator: Maria Glover (Professor, Georgetown)

Panelists:

• Bill Magnarelli (Assemblymember, New York State Legislature)
• Brian Call (President, Libra Solutions)
• Brad Nail (Partner & Head of Multistate Practice, Converge Government Affairs and Uber)
• Gary Amos (CEO, Golden Pear Funding)

12:45 PM – 1:30 PM – Lunch

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Panel 3: EU P9_TA (2022) 0308 - International Legislation

In 2022, the EU Parliament adopted a resolution to introduce legislation creating minimum standards for third-party funding in the EU. The European Commission has yet to submit a formal proposal for the EU Parliament and European Commission to consider. However, the principles outlined in the resolution highlight many significant discussion points within the industry and demonstrate the state of international regulation of the industry.

Moderator: Donald Kochan (Professor, George Mason Law)

Panelists:

• Kai Zenner (Advisor, MEP Axel Voss)
• Bernardo Cremades (Managing Partner, Cremades y Asociados)
• Victoria Sahani (Associate Provost for Community and Inclusion, BU Law)
• Tony Sebok (Professor, Cardozo)
• Susanne Augenhofer (Professor, Innsbruck)

3:00 PM – 3:15 PM – Closing Remarks by Sheila Birnbaum (Interim Director, Center on Civil Justice at NYU School of Law)

RSVP for the event here: https://forms.gle/Z5UuQcB2geNhRe7dA.