Rocco Pirozzolo was joined by a panel of industry experts to discuss the current state of the dispute insurance market and what the future holds
The round table discussion was filmed by Insure TV and featured Maurice MacSweeney, Director of Litigation Funding and Sales Planning at Harbour Litigation Funding, PJ Kirby KC of Gatehouse Chambers and Paul Hargreaves, Partner, Walker Morris LLP, and was moderated by Insure TV’s Mark Colegate.
Rocco opened by saying that dispute insurance has been under the radar of a lot of solicitors who are advising clients involved in disputes. “It’s quite clear that in this economic environment where there are going to be more and more claims, solicitors should be thinking about dispute insurance and become more aware of the fact that it might be appropriate for the type of cases that their clients are considering,” he said.
Harbour Litigation Funding’s Maurice MacSweeney said that from a litigation funder’s perspective, dispute insurance and litigation funding is a symbiotic relationship: “It is essential to the funding industry to have someone like a dispute insurance provider to help manage that risk because if the case loses, the funder is on the hook for the other side’s cost. England and Wales is an expensive jurisdiction in which to litigate, so products like dispute insurance are really important for the funding community to make what we do viable, otherwise it will just become too expensive.”
Paul Hargreaves described dispute insurance as an “essential piece of kit in the litigation process”, with PJ Kirby KC stating it is especially important in large group actions. “You’ve got to have some sort of cover with regards to the risk of adverse cost, otherwise, no one with any sense would pursue those claims,” he said.
You can hear the panellists’ fascinating insights about dispute insurance by watching the video here.
