Litigation Funding Proves its Value in UK Post Office Scandal - Litigation Finance Journal

[Gunnar Larson]

https://litigationfinancejournal.com/litigation-funding-proves-its-value-in-uk-post-office-scandal/


Those who remain skeptical of the benefits of Litigation Finance need look
no further than the recent UK Post Office case. Last week, 30 criminal
convictions were vacated in an action that would not have proceeded were it
not for third-party legal funding. And make no mistake—that would have been
a grave injustice.

Financial Times
<https://www.ft.com/content/0d1125ba-564f-4876-8ae7-151779bdb367> details
that decades of injustice befell sub-postmasters in the UK when errors in
the Post Office IT system led to accusations of widespread misappropriation
of funds and false accounting. Not surprisingly, this in turn, led to
ruined lives and livelihoods. These sub-postmasters were clearly wronged
but lacked the means to pursue a case.

Paula Vennells, former post office chief executive, refused to consider
that the Horizon accounting system was to blame, and fought fiercely to
drag out litigation meant to clear the names of hundreds of wronged
employees.

Those employees eventually received help from Therium, a third-party legal
funder. Therium funded the case on a non-recourse basis, which eventually
resulted in a settlement of GBP 58 million. After costs and Therium taking
their share, claimants will split the remaining GBP 12 million.

It may seem like the funders get the lion’s share of the settlement.
Consider though, that funders take the most financial risk. The
non-recourse nature of funding necessitates a higher payout, because if the
case had not resulted in a payout, Therium’s investment would be a total
loss.

What we see in this case are ordinary citizens wronged by a corrupt system,
seeing their day in court, and being compensated—thanks to Litigation
Finance.
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