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Burford Capital asks judge to dismiss Tyson lawsuit over

funding

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Litigation funders face tax in Senate version of Trump tax

and

spending bill

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Jackson Walker sued again over role in bankruptcy judge

romance

saga

By David Thomas, Mike Scarcella and Sara Merken

June 18 (Reuters) - (Billable Hours is Reuters' weekly

report on lawyers and money. Please send tips or suggestions to

[email protected])

A fight over the power of outside funders to influence

lawsuits is unfolding in Chicago federal court, where leading

litigation financier Burford Capital fired back this week

against allegations that it illegally interfered with efforts to

settle chicken price-fixing claims against meat processing giant

Tyson Foods ( TSN ).

Tyson sued Burford in April, alleging it sought to "co-opt

the legal system" by blocking a potential settlement between

Tyson and Burford's funding client Sysco ( SYY ) in the chicken case in

order to press for a larger recovery.

Burford asked a court this week to dismiss Tyson's

lawsuit, accusing the company of trying to divert attention away

from the underlying price-fixing claims.

Litigation funders provide financial support to clients in

exchange for a part of any settlement or other judgment. Burford

is the world's largest litigation finance provider.

The clash is part of a broader, long-running litigation

accusing Tyson and other meat processors of price-fixing in a

variety of meat industries. Some of the cases have generated

tens of millions of dollars or more in settlements. Tyson has

denied any wrongdoing.

Burford has spent $140 million since 2019 backing antitrust

claims by food distributor Sysco ( SYY ) against Tyson and other meat

processors, court documents show. Sysco's ( SYY ) contract with Burford

allowed the funder to participate in some of Sysco's ( SYY ) settlement

discussions, Burford said in court papers.

In 2023, Burford successfully blocked Sysco ( SYY ) from settling

with a different defendant in the price-fixing litigation for an

amount that the funder thought was too low. Sysco ( SYY ) is no longer a

party in the case, after transferring its litigation rights to a

Burford affiliate called Carina Ventures.

Burford and Sysco ( SYY ) declined to comment, and Tyson did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

Burford in its filing this week denied it had interfered

with Sysco's ( SYY ) settlement plans and called Tyson's claims

"threadbare" and "rank speculation." Burford said it was Tyson

that declined Sysco's ( SYY ) last settlement offer in late 2021.

- U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday included a provision in

proposed changes to President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut

and spending bill that would raise the tax third-party

litigation funders pay on litigation proceeds to nearly 41%.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis in a May statement

introducing the bill said the legislation would curb "abusive

practices" and promote transparency in the industry.

Paul Kong, executive director of the International Legal

Finance Association, a trade group for commercial litigation

funders, in a statement said the tax would undermine access to

justice by placing "significant barriers in front of small

businesses, inventors, startups, and other less well-resourced

claimants seeking redress."

- Houston-based law firm Jackson Walker has been hit with

another civil lawsuit over its failure to disclose a romantic

relationship between one of its partners and former U.S.

Bankruptcy Judge David Jones.

Bondholders of financial services company GWG filed the

lawsuit in Houston federal court last week, accusing Jackson

Walker, former firm partner Elizabeth Freeman, and Jones of

deceiving them and the public by keeping the romance hidden "and

taking millions from distressed entities for their own

benefit."

The bondholders' lawyers at the Bandas Law Firm have brought

two previous cases against Jackson Walker on behalf

of shareholders who said their investments in certain companies

were wiped out in bankruptcy cases where Jones was involved

before he resigned from the bench in October 2023.

One lawsuit, filed by Morton Bouchard, is still pending. A

federal judge last year dismissed a similar lawsuit brought by

Michael Van Deelen, who first brought Jones' relationship with

Freeman to light.

Mikell West, a lawyer at the Bandas Law Firm, did not

respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Jackson Walker and a lawyer for Freeman

both declined to comment. Attorneys for Jones and a spokesperson

for Porter Hedges, a Houston-based law firm that was also named

in the GWG investors' complaint, did not immediately respond to

requests for comment.

- U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minnesota has awarded

$23 million in legal fees to plaintiffs firm Sanford Heisler

Sharp McKnight for its work on a $69 million class action

settlement involving the UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ).

Lawyers for the plaintiffs in a court filing this month

called the $69 million deal the "largest-ever ERISA settlement

alleging breach of fiduciary duty for failure to remove

underperforming investment options." The plaintiffs' teams said

they dedicated more than 12,800 hours on the litigation, which

focused on participants who were invested in a certain Wells

Fargo fund.

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the

litigation, which began in 2021. Kirkland represented

UnitedHealth ( UNH ).

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