Insights

In a previous client alert on a recent Civil Justice Council (“CJC”) report on litigation funding in England and Wales we discussed the issue of whether payment waterfalls providing funders with payment priority are compliant with the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 (“DBA Regulations”), the issue being a matter to be heard on appeal in June 2025. Funders will be pleased to hear that the answer is “yes”. The Court of Appeal has held that the DBA Regulations focuses on whether a funding agreement determines the amount of a funder’s fees by reference to the damages awarded to the successful litigant. The fact that a funder may receive its fees from the proceeds is not enough in itself for the arrangement to fall under the DBA Regulations.

On 2 June 2025 the Civil Justice Council (a UK public body that advises on civil justice and civil procedure) (“CJC”) issued its Review of Litigation Funding Final Report (the “Report”). The CJC has provided comprehensive recommendations on the regulation and reform of litigation funding in England and Wales. The highlight recommendation of the Report is for the UK Government to remove third party litigation funding from the regulations and requirements of the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 (“DBA Regulations”), reversing the judgment of the Supreme Court in PACCAR.[1] Meanwhile, the UK Court of Appeal has recently endorsed a position that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) may order that third party funders of collective proceedings be paid first from litigation proceeds before claimants according to waterfall provisions in their funding agreements.

All insolvency professionals appreciate that Section 236 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“s236”) grants significant investigatory powers to office-holders into a company’s business dealings, affairs and director conducts, including the power to obtain third-party records and information.

In a recent UK Court of Appeal judgment in what is known as “the motor finance cases” (see Johnson v FirstRand Bank, Wrench v FirstRand Bank and Hopcraft v Close Brothers Limited, which appeals were all heard together), the Court has shone a spotlight on the issue of commissions paid by financiers to brokers and determined that, in some cases, they may be considered “bribes” under UK law. 

On 19 March 2024, the Government followed through on a promise from the Ministry of Justice to introduce draft legislation to reverse the effect of  R (on the application of PACCAR Inc & Ors) v Competition Appeal Tribunal & Ors [2023] UKSC 28.  The effect of this ruling was discussed in our prior alert and follow on commentary discussing its effect on group competition litigation and initial government reform proposals. Should the bill pass, agreements to provide third party funding to litigation or advocacy services in England will no longer be required to comply with the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 (“DBA Regulations”) to be enforceable.

In this alert we discuss recent developments in the regulation of third party funding since R (on the application of PACCAR Inc & Ors) v Competition Appeal Tribunal & Ors [2023] UKSC 28, (“PACCAR”) which we discussed in our prior alert. In Alex Neill Class Representative Limited v Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited et al. [2023] CAT 73, the first analysis of a third-party litigation funding agreement (“LFA”) to take place since PACCAR, finding that an optional payment mechanism based on a cut of damages “only to the extent enforceable and permitted by applicable law” will not render the whole LFA an unenforceable damages-based agreement (“DBA”). Meanwhile, the government intends to enact a legislative amendment to make non-lawyer LFAs for group opt-out competition proceedings enforceable, but calls have quickly begun for the government to go further.

During the first quarter of 2022, Crowell’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring, and Insolvency (BRI) team continued developing valuable blog content focused on the latest developments across the world of bankruptcy and financial restructuring both in the US and the UK. Our Restructuring Matters Blog tracks and evaluates significant developments on a number of issues and cases to keep readers updated on major bankruptcy decisions and trends, developments in best practices for various finance and restructuring strategies, and the potential impact of the major case decisions and trends for various business sectors.

In these unprecedented times, all businesses will be facing issues they have never encountered before. The disruption caused by the measures imposed to combat the COVID-19 outbreak are significant and wide-reaching, impacting every business and its suppliers, customers, workforce, investors and lenders. Companies find themselves operating in the shadow of potential bankruptcies along the supply chain, in their customer base and their trading partners globally and are facing a myriad of issues related to business disruption, salvaging relationships and restructuring liabilities and business structures to facilitate ongoing trading. To ensure an ability to recommence trading when the current lockdown is over, clients may need to take a number of steps to keep their business alive. Some of the key questions arising are set out below:

On March 20, 2020, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, unveiled the U.K.  government's further £350bn package of fiscal measures to mitigate the severe economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. One of the most significant measures is the launch of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (the Scheme) which went live on March 23.

In these unprecedented times, the U.K. government is seeking to preserve U.K. businesses and has already introduced significant measures to achieve that aim, including:

It is clear from the announcements issued by the U.K. Government over the last few hours and days that we are living through incredibly challenging times. It goes without saying that we hope that you, our clients, are well and that you continue to be. This note is an offer of help as it is entirely clear that to weather this storm, we need to work together like never before.