Michael Cumming-Bruce
Vice President
Phone: +44 20 3386 2908
Email: mike.cumming-bruce@benchwalk.com
LinkedIn: Connect with Michael
Acquisition International (AI)
Global Excellence Award 2021
Most Innovative Legal Capital Solutions Provider - UK
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Michael Cumming-Bruce joined Bench Walk Advisors as Vice President in our London office.
Michael’s background is in commercial disputes and prior to joining Bench Walk Advisors, he was a senior associate at the litigation and arbitration boutique Cooke, Young & Keidan. Before CYK he was an associate at both a leading offshore and a Magic Circle firm. Michael has considerable experience acting across the spectrum of commercial disputes, including for and with litigation funders.
Michael is co-founder of the Tech Disputes Network, a leading global networking forum for contentious technology professionals. He has authored numerous articles for national, trade, and academic publications on law and technology; has developed various software and other innovations to assist with the disputes process; and is a graduate of Oxford University.
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Co-author, ‘Possible legal risks arising from the use of AI systems by hedge funds’ , published by Hedgeweek, 20 March 2020
Co-author, ‘Beware the deficiencies of cyber-justice’, published by The Times, 11 December 2019
Author, ‘Libra already victim of fraud’, published by Fintech Futures, 24 September 2019
Co-author, ‘Winning the arbitral enforcement battle’, published by ICLG—African Law &. Business, 1 February 2019
Author, ‘The improving prospects of cryptoassets’, published by CYK Tech, 12 February 2019
Author, ‘What are smart contracts?’, published by CYK Tech, 22 January 2020
Author, ‘Treasure in the wreck: IP, insolvency and yesterday’s next big thing’, published by CYK Tech, 4 November 2019
Author, ‘Your robot ate my dividend: algorithms and securities litigation’, published by CYK Tech, 4 November 2019
Author, ‘Co-investor disputes: on shareholders agreements and sausages’, published by CYK Tech, 1 November 2019
Author, ‘How a lack of clarity around IP destroys value & what to do about it’, published by CYK Tech, 1 November 2019
Author, ‘Stick or twist? The dilemma with struggling founder teams’, published by CYK Tech, 30 October 2019
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Webinars
‘Digital Justice in the Pandemic;, published by CYK Law, 24 June 2020
‘IT Disputes: How to run a Project Failure Claim Without Panicking’, published by Tech Disputes Network, 26 January 2021
Podcasts
‘Unwired Planet International v Huawei’, published by Tech Disputes Network, 18 January 2021
MARKET INDUSTRY UPDATES + ARTICLES
We’re delighted to announce that we are sponsoring the much-anticipated LF Dealmakers, European Edition.
Next month, Istanbul Arbitration Week will kick off its second year. Lawdragon chatted with one of the main organizers of the conference, Ayse Yazir, about the topics, panelists and special events taking place at ISTAW this year.
Ayse Yazir’s early career in insurance taught her how to spot a good investment. Now, as a litigation funder, she sorts through securities cases, class actions and more that come to her from across the globe, searching for the cases her firm’s funding can make into headline successes.
Adrian Chopin chosen at ‘Litigation Funding Adviser of the year’ 2022, by Lawyer Monthly
Istanbul Arbitration Week kicks off next week, running October 10 to 14. This is the second year for the event, hosted by the Energy Disputes Arbitration Center, or EDAC. Topics include collecting on claims, ADR mechanisms, the Energy Charter Treaty, litigation funding and other subjects pertinent to arbitration.
You were awarded the Turkish National State Scholarship to study Turkish Law at Başkent University and studied English Law at Nottingham Law School, England. Tell us about your experiences studying in two separate countries and what made you decide to become a lawyer…..
Stuart Grant, known internationally for his plaintiff advocacy work on behalf of stockholders, co-founded Bench Walk Advisors in 2017. The company has since invested nearly half a billion dollars into over 150 commercial cases and portfolios. They have offices in New York, Delaware and London.
Bench Walk are proud to announce that four of our team members have been named as industry leaders in the 2022 Lawdragon Global Litigation Finance Guide.
We are proud to introduce the 2022 class of the Lawdragon Hall of Fame. Among them are the nation’s greatest corporate litigators, plaintiff powerhouses, innovators who established new areas of law practice and individuals whose dedication to a sometimes precarious legal system are unsurpassed.
In my prior blogs I examined “implied probability of loss” as a way of analysing the risk and price of transactions in the litigation funding market.
Let’s take for example (and with all the usual caveats about being reductive) a funder that determines that a case has, say, a 2/3 chance of winning and generating for both the claimant and the funder lots of money, and a 1/3 chance of losing with an attendant destruction of the funder’s entire investment. When pricing this case that funder must charge, on a win, $1.5 for every $1 invested just to break even. This is because the funder has a 1 in 3 chance of losing 100% and a 2/3 chance of winning 150%, which yields, on average, 100% (that is, a mere return of the funder’s investment).
Litigation funding has typically focused on claimant side investment. Defence funding feels less valuable because it does not so obviously unlock an asset. In addition, the cash benefit of having a funder pay defence legal costs will often be dwarfed by the potential cash payout by the defendant on a loss. And finally, a defendant worth suing is usually not cash constrained in the same way as many claimants who seek funding. But as the funding market has matured, some funders, defence lawyers and their clients have begun to express interest in defence funding.
Litigation funding has typically focused on claimant side investment. Defence funding feels less valuable because it does not so obviously unlock an asset. In addition, the cash benefit of having a funder pay defence legal costs will often be dwarfed by the potential cash payout by the defendant on a loss. And finally, a defendant worth suing is usually not cash constrained in the same way as many claimants who seek funding. But as the funding market has matured, some funders, defence lawyers and their clients have begun to express interest in defence funding.
Litigation funding has typically focused on claimant side investment. Defence funding feels less valuable because it does not so obviously unlock an asset. In addition, the cash benefit of having a funder pay defence legal costs will often be dwarfed by the potential cash payout by the defendant on a loss. And finally, a defendant worth suing is usually not cash constrained in the same way as many claimants who seek funding. But as the funding market has matured, some funders, defence lawyers and their clients have begun to express interest in defence funding.
In a new post on the Practical Law Dispute Resolution blog, Adrian Chopin at Bench Walk Advisors considers defence litigation funding, including the available funding options, its increasing attractiveness and the potential challenges.
Litigation funding has typically focused on claimant side investment. Defence funding feels less valuable because it does not so obviously unlock an asset. In addition, the cash benefit of having a funder pay defence legal costs will often be dwarfed by the potential cash payout by the defendant on a loss. And finally, a defendant worth suing is usually not cash constrained in the same way as many claimants who seek funding. But as the funding market has matured, some funders, defence lawyers and their clients have begun to express interest in defence funding.
Bench Walk Advisors is proud to have financed this claim and to have helped facilitate a great outcome for the plaintiffs. On behalf of everyone at Bench Walk, our warmest congratulations to all involved.