A new association that seeks to be the ‘global voice of the litigation funding industry’ was set up last week with high-profile funding figure Leslie Perrin at its helm.

The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) is intended to provide a counterweight to influential lobby groups such as the US Chamber, which oppose the use of litigation funding.

Unlike the Association of Litigation Funders (ALF), which provides self-regulation of the funding industry in the UK, the ILFA has no regulatory function and is a purely representative body; although all members must sign up to its best practice principles.

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Leslie Perrin

Perrin, who is chair of funder Calunius Capital and was the founding chair of ALF, told the Gazette that the new body plans to form a ‘national chapter’ in the US, and trade associations in England and Wales, Australia and the EU, in order to influence judicial, legislative and regulatory developments in each jurisdiction.

He said: ‘The ALF was a regulator, because that is what Lord Justice Jackson and the Civil Justice Counsel wanted - and we have delivered. Now the ILFA can be the representative voice of the global litigation funding industry’.

Founder members of the ILFA include Burford Capital, Harbour Litigation Funding, Therium Capital Management, Woodsford Litigation Funding, Logford Capital Management and Omni Bridgeway. It is a non-profit making organisation, with membership fees used to finance operating costs, public relations activity, and potentially interventions in judicial cases that are significant for the broader industry.

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