BARE BONES BRIEFS: Litigation funder out $2.1 million when client discontinues litigation | Dentons gets menopause accreditation | UK regulator: lawyers who swear betray the public trust | Musk compensation foes seek $7 billion in legal fees

By Julius Melnitzer | July 17, 2024

DIVORCING PARTIES STIFF LITIGATION FUNDER FOR $2.1 MILLION

The Law Society Gazette reports that Level, a litigation loan provider, found itself without remedies to recover the $2.1 million it had advanced in an eight-year long divorce proceedings when the parties reached a settlement that did not include repayment to the lender and refused to seek any financial remedy or further order from the court. Level obtained leave to intervene so it could object to the agreement, but High Court Justice Robert Peel ruled that, in the absence of any application for an order of some kind from the parties, “. . . there is precious little that Level can do” to pursue remedies in the context of the litigation. This despite Peel’s conclusion that “preventing Level from recouping its monies was part of the motivation [for the settlement]”. Peel did state, however, that should the parties make financial claims in the future, Level would be automatically added as an intervener. Small comfort, one would think.

Related Article: Litigation funders in 80% of cases

DENTONS SEEKS FEMALE TALENT WITH MENOPAUSE ACCREDITATION

Henpicked: Menopause in the Workplace, an organization whose aim is to make employers menopause-friendly, has accredited Dentons and five other UK law firms. According to The Law Society Gazette, the accreditation is “part of wider efforts to attract and retain senior female talent”. Denton’s supportive measures include a menopause policy highlighting the firm’s responsibility; flexible working arrangements and training; and informal drop-in sessions aimed at creating a ‘safe space’ for staff to share their experiences.

Related Article: Woman lawyers working 100 more hours than men

LAW STUDENT FINED FOR SWEARING DURING ETHICS EXAM

As if legal regulators had nothing better to do, the governing body in the UK has fined a student barrister, Jack Henry Sadler, about $900 for swearing while taking a professional ethics exam required for qualification. According to The Law Society Gazette, the exam was proctored remotely and recorded, meaning that likely only the overly sensitive ears of the proctor heard the offending comments, directed mostly at the contents of the exam. But one offended proctor was quite enough for the regulator, who decided that Sadler “acted in a way which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in him or the profession”. So here’s the message: lawyers who swear (just about all them), beware!

Related Article: LST sanctions counsel for uncivil conduct 

TESLA STOCKHOLDER SEEKS $7 BILLION IN LEGAL FEES

Lawyers for the stockholder who successfully challenged Elon Musk’s proposed 2018 pay package worth US$55 billion are seeking compensation for legal fees in the form of $7 billion of Tesla stock. MSN reports that the lawyers maintained their request was “conservative”, equal to ‘only’ 11% of the $51.4 billion in returned stock that would have gone to Musk and thereby diluted the value of other investors shares – as opposed to the 33% fee recovery the lawyers say is ‘typical’ in Delaware. The compensation requested is more than 10 times the previous record of $688 million awarded in the litigation that followed the collapse of Enron.

Related Article: Court analyzes exceptional circumstances for awarding premium costs on contingency fees

Julius Melnitzer is a Toronto-based legal affairs writer, ghostwriter, writing coach and media trainer. Readers can reach him at [email protected] or https://legalwriter.net/contact.

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