Realising Legal Assets

The scale and complexity of the legal process can be quite overwhelming to the uninitiated. This is not to criticise. Those more familiar with seeking to recover losses and compensation through the intricacies and vagaries of Court or arbitration procedures are all too well aware of the very significant risks and pit-falls involved.

As well as the seemingly indefinite management time and commitment demanded, there is the financial cost. The expense and costs of bringing claims in the English jurisdiction have not been exaggerated: it is a very (very) expensive business. Large scale commercial claims cost many millions of pounds to pursue.

It is not just paying your own legal team’s fees; there is the unpleasant spectre of losing, meaning you must also pay your opponent’s legal costs. Pursuing banks and other financial institutions that have access to vast resources to defend claims, can mean that this “adverse costs” exposure is significantly greater than the amount needed to pay your own legal team.

In the context of “group” or “class action” legal proceedings, where there can be hundreds (or thousands) of claimants, the significant challenges faced by those bringing claims escalate materially.

The obstacles posed by the sheer expense of, and potential adverse costs exposures inherent in, the legal process remain of course. In addition, however, the prospective claimants must “book-build” the group in order to increase essential claim value through a well-orchestrated media campaign; begin to gather, process and preserve the vast amounts of documents, data and other evidence (often in electronic form) crucial for the legal fight; and establish the decision making and other communication structures necessary to select the right team of lawyers and other experts, regularly update the claimant membership and, ultimately, manage the course and direction of the legal process.

Lawyers can possibly assist, but very often this is to put the cart before the horse: funds are needed to pay legal fees to build the case, but raising funding in the early stages without first building the legal case is extremely difficult.

Faced with these hurdles, the decision to begin the process to convert a potential legal claim to a damages recovery can be very easily (and justifiably) postponed or rejected outright. The difficulties and risks involved in bringing legal proceedings appear insurmountable and/or amount to a very expensive diversion from getting on with life. For ongoing businesses, precious management time and resources are much better directed at pursuing commercial opportunities and taking the enterprise forwards; for individuals, life is too short to contemplate the necessary time and inevitable stress involved, let alone a financial commitment beyond the means of anyone save for (perhaps) ultra-high net worth individuals.

Yet, not unlocking the contingent asset value which a legal claim represents, or not pursuing losses which justice demands ought to be pursued, is very frustrating.

RGL builds, manages and pursues large, complex commercial legal actions. RGL Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of regulated claims management activity. Registration number: FRN 833132, recorded on https://www.fca.org.uk

RGL can assist SME owners, individuals and liquidators through to large corporate enterprises. The RGL management team combines extensive expertise and experience in the law and the resolution of large scale commercial disputes, investment banking, arbitration and litigation funding, accountancy, insolvency, IT, corporate operational management and claimant communication. This combination of experience and expertise means that RGL is able to build the right team and resources for any commercial legal claim.

Whether the prospective proceedings involve a single claimant pursuing a loss recovery or a large multi-claimant representative action seeking collective loss redress, RGL can obtain, through a well- established network of specialist litigation funders, brokers and insurers, the litigation (or arbitration) funding and legal expense (or “ATE”) insurance necessary to develop your legal asset.

Having funding available means that you do not carry the financial burden of paying the costs of your legal team, and ATE insurance protects you against the financial risk of potentially paying your opponent’s legal costs. RGL works with the selected lawyers to ensure that their fee arrangements are appropriately balanced to meet the requirements of the funders and ATE insurers, as well as the overall economics of the claim, so as to preserve the net value of a loss recovery.

RGL also works with funders and insurers to offer more specialist risk management options, including the unlocking of asset values through the early monetisation of claim value, and potentially, where appropriate, capping the cost of claims if you are willing to assume some of the costs burden.

In addition to the lawyers, funders and ATE insurers, where appropriate RGL manages the important accompanying publicity machine which is used to a) build the claimant book and b) maintain pressure on defendant(s) to settle, rather than taint their brand with a continued stream of disruptive publicity. This activity encompasses PR to exploit the potential of the Press, and critically, online marketing and social media.

RGL also possesses integrated administration and back-office functions, equipped with proprietary RGL-ClaimPoint software, along with analysis, evidence gathering and processing capability, all essential to the efficient and effective pursuit of large scale commercial legal claims against financial institutions and similarly large defendants.

Top-tier legal teams

To ensure the best possible outcomes for our claimants, for each group action RGL brings together a carefully selected top-tier legal team. The solicitors and counsel we work with include the following:

Fladgate LLP; Mishcon de Reya; Tyr Law; Wallace LLP; Andrew Onslow KC, Lisa Lacob and Liisa Lahti of Three Verulam Buildings; Alain Choo-Choy KC of One Essex Court; Simon Davenport KC of 4 Pump Court.

In summary, RGL has the experience, funding and advisor networks, combined with the resources necessary to assist you to unlock the contingent asset value of potential legal claims, whether as a single claimant or by building, resourcing and managing group litigation.

Contact us

If you believe you have a significant potential claim, or a significant number of potential claimants with similar claims who could join a group legal action, please visit our Contact Form and provide as much information as possible.