make a potential $6 billion return on this investment. Class actions have expanded in the financial, medical and energy sectors, giving access to a new range of claimants. On 25 May 2022, the BBC reported that Volkswagen was to pay £193 million to more than 90,000 drivers in England and Wales after it settled a High Court claim over the installation of emissions-cheating devices in its vehicles. The VW group has, so it was reported, already paid out more than €30 billion (£26 billion) worldwide. We have already seen class actions by copyright owners to challenge AI content. These developments might also have applications to the medical claims arising from repeated injuries in contact sports. How have you witnessed the field of sport and media law develop over the course of your career to date? My early experience was gained when I joined as general counsel to a MonacoDo you think that litigation risks are the same for sport and entertainment brands? No, they are not the same. The particular challenge of sport as a brand is to maintain the integrity of the competition, thereby guaranteeing the fair and uncertain outcome of a sports performance. That is why drugs and match-fixing have featured so regularly in sport litigation. The entertainment industry does not depend upon uncertainty of outcome and therefore it faces different issues. The Rolling Stones’ original brand as the ‘bad boys’, compared to the Beatles as the ‘nice guys’, hardly inhibited their careers. Can you please identify some further issues and changes that explain your interest in strategies and technologies to avoid litigation risks? The outcome of litigation is unpredictable. A decision to litigate usually relies upon an assessment of who is going to win or 26 LAWYER MONTHLY OCTOBER 2023 lose. There is frequently a discounting of the cost and disruption within an organisation of pursuing the litigation route at early stages . Once litigation starts, it can be a very difficult to stop, particularly after large funds have already been spent. Attitudes harden and control of the settlement agenda lost. Litigation costs have been increasing and can be seen to impact the bottom line of a business. There is no reason why legal risks should not be identified through technology at an early stage. An organisation might then do three things differently. First, it can allocate an internal function with responsibility for litigation and risk management. Second, it can decide how best to avoid the risk escalating into litigation through early-stage avoidance. Third, it can retain greater control at different stages of escalation and have more influence over the final outcome. Third-party funders see litigation as assets to monetise. A recent example quoted in the Financial Times (14/9/2023) vividly illustrates this development. A New York court recently awarded a record $16 billion damages to two expropriated shareholders in an oil resources claim. The claim was largely financed by litigation funding by Burford Capital. Burford Capital was reported to There is no reason why legal risks should not be identified through technology at an early stage. Contact Stephen Townley Stobbs IP Tel: +44 07880 505220 E: steve@activerights.com www.stephentownley.com
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