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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

FUNDERS FIND FOOTHOLDS - This year might have been a crushing disappointment for many folks who thought the worst would be behind us by now, but hey, litigation funders actually had themselves a pretty nice little 2021… so there's that. As Law.com's Dan Packel reports, commercial lit funders enjoyed a quiet but healthy year, with the U.S. market largely free from any existential crises that could put new pressure on their business model. "People have been trying to take stock after last year," said Zachary Krug, a U.S.-trained litigator who recently joined London-based Signal Capital Partners to lead its litigation funding unit. Even amid surprise that "there wasn't as great of a tsunami of COVID-related litigation as some expected," he was pleased that "even though inflows took a dip in the early part of 2020, for the most part funders were able to find good opportunities and have relatively good deal flow." A further sign of the industry's maturation is the amount of interest coming from corporations looking to monetize potential claims. At publicly traded Burford Capital, the largest funder in the world, 2021 was the first year that business done directly with corporates outpaced that done with law firms.

CUTTING CLASS -  Law school applicants and applications are on pace to once again be sky high for the 2022-23 year, but some schools are beginning to eye fewer enrollments, Law.com's Christine Charnosky reports. Law school admission consultant Mike Spivey told Law.com that he expects enrollment numbers to drop in 2022 "when all is said and done." And indeed, several law school administrators said the same, though each added the caveat that's it much too soon to make any concrete predictions. The Law School Admission Council, which tracks enrollment numbers, also urged caution. "We tell people on our website these are early numbers,"  Susan Krinsky, LSAC executive vice president for operations and chief of staff, told Law.com. "Don't assume anything about how things are going to end up. It could slow down more or it could speed up more."

NO GUESS WORK? - Guess Inc. and its co-founder Paul Marciano were slapped with an insurance coverage lawsuit Tuesday in California Central District Court. The suit, filed by Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders on behalf of Beazley Insurance Company Inc., seeks a declaration that Beazley has no obligation to defend or indemnify the defendants in connection with an underlying lawsuit, which pertains to the alleged sexual misconduct by Marciano on a Guess female employee. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 2:21-cv-09962, Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. v. Guess?, Inc. et al.  Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

DIVERSIFICATION DRIVING DEMAND -  Latin America legal practitioners are bracing for a slew of business as wealthy Chileans seek diversification for their investments after a leftist former student protest leader won the presidency on promises to reengineer the economy, Law.com International's Amy Guthrie reports. President-elect Gabriel Boric wants to dismantle Chile's $220 billion private pension system, which has anchored the local capital markets and currency for decades, in favor of a public system. He has also proposed raising taxes on mining projects and the super-wealthy. "The reality is that wealthy Chileans are voting with their feet and transferring money abroad," said Juan Pablo Cappello, co-founder of PAG Law, a boutique law firm that advises Latin American and Spanish founders, as well as wealthy cross-border family groups.

WHAT YOU SAID

"If you have politicians who are pursuing what is understood, at least in general market terms, as excess behavior, then I would be in favor of political activism because it is up to governments to regulate business behavior if there's going to be any regulation of that behavior at all."