Insights

Washington –January 11, 2024: Crowell & Moring announced today that Mark Fenoughty, an experienced senior financial executive, has joined the firm as its new Chief Financial Officer. Fenoughty will lead the firm's finance and accounting functions and play a key role in driving the firm’s business priorities.

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.

The world has watched in horror as tragedy has unfolded in Israel because of the brutal terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas.  Nothing can compensate for the devastating loss of life, for the trauma suffered by those injured or kidnapped, or for the grief, sorrow, fear, and anger felt by family members.  For the past twenty-five years, American victims or family members have held Iran accountable in U.S. courts for its sponsorship and support of murderous and terrorist acts like those carried out by Hamas in Israel.  The U.S. legal system may again be a vehicle to hold Iran and its proxies to account today.

World Arbitration Update (“WAU”) invites you to attend a 75-minute webinar discussion by leading practitioners in the international dispute resolution field on the recent developments concerning the intersection of dispute resolution and the Ukraine-Russia crisis. According to the Kyiv School of Economics, Ukraine has so far experienced economic damage amounting up to $600 billion. Over $10 billion in airplane assets have been reportedly stranded in Russia setting off potentially large insurance claims and related disputes. Yale School of Management has collected data showing that almost 1,000 companies have publicly announced they are voluntarily curtailing operations in Russia to some degree beyond the bare minimum legally required by international sanctions. The Russian parliament continues to consider the expropriation of foreign assets. International disputes involving Russia and Ukraine are arising from the crisis and more likely to follow. Our speakers will discuss related topics, including: the impact of sanctions, the proposed formation of an international claims commission for Ukraine, the impact of the crisis on the legal profession, the potential and current international forums in which Ukrainian businesses and investors could submit legal recourse to address the consequences of the war in Ukraine, as well as an update on the ICJ case, Ukraine v. Russian Federation.

Crowell & Moring partner, Michelle Linderman will be joining a panel discussion on 'Keeping Abreast of our Ever-Changing World' alongside leaders at American P&I Club, Lloyd's List Intelligence and Quadrant Chambers. The session will be moderated by Neil Roberts, Head of Marine and Aviation at Lloyd's Market Association. 

Join Crowell's Michelle Linderman and Dj Wolff on December 14, 2022, 13:00 UTC for a BIMCO 15 + 15 webinar (15 min presentation, followed by a 15 min Q&A). They will talk about the price cap on Russian oil exports, whereby the G7, along with the European Union and Australia, have agreed to implement a price cap on Russian oil and oil products in order to reduce Russia’s revenues which are funding its war efforts in Ukraine while seeking to ensure energy security.  The price cap is designed to allow companies to provide shipment and insurance of Russian oil and oil products provided that the purchase price is below the agreed price cap, but how has it begun to work in practice, and what are the practical issues being experienced by the different actors in the supply chain?

Please join us for an update on the current developments at the EU level, in Germany as well as in the USA and UK. We look forward to a thoughtful discussion from Stephan Müller of Oppenhoff and Caroline Brown and Peter Broadhurst of Crowell & Moring.

The session will cover the preservation of the attorney client privilege during internal investigations and will examine both the basics of privilege law and best practices for preserving it in the US, UK and EU. Attendees will find this program very beneficial for members of the compliance, internal audit, and legal functions.