Forum on Global Financial Institutions Litigation – London Conference, November 28/29, 2012

C5’s Forum on Global Financial Institutions Litigation is held at a time of a sharp increase in the number of claims against financial institutions, tighter regulation and more regulatory investigations against financial institutions (see the recent post on Germany’s growth rates). Check out the programme – I will be speaking on litigation funding. The conference is held on Wednesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 29, 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, London. If any of you, dear readers, are attending as well, let me know – it would be great to meet in person!

“Banks in Court” – Germany Posts Record Growth in Banking Litigation

“Banks in Court” (Banken vor Gericht) is today’s Handelsblatt cover story (Update August 22, 2012: article was paywalled yesterday, now available online), devoted to the dramatic increase of banking litigation in Germany. Handelsblatt looked a various indicators: It surveyed the numbers of actions filed, the provsions made by banks for litigation risks and spoke to judges and lawyers. Activity is up in customer vs. bank litigation as well as in bank-to-bank litigation and most certainly in criminal investigations into the various bank activities.

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The ABA Journal Blawg 100 – Call for 2012 Nominations

For the sixth year, the ABA Journal will nominate the its Top 100 Blawgs – here’s a link to last year’s selection. ABA are now working on their 2012 list of the 100 best legal blogs, and seek your advice on which blawgs you think ABA should include – here’s the link to the nomination form. I will definitely nominate Ted Folkman’s Letters Blogatory, and Bruce Ewen’s Adam Smith, Esq. Any other ideas?

Speeding Up the Courts: The First Award of Damages for Excessive Lenghts of Proceedings

In December 2011, we reported about the legislation that was just introduced to sanction the excessive duration of legal proceedings. The German parliament addressed concerns of the European Court of Human Rights, who had criticized Germany for lacking effective remedies for excessive lengths of proceedings. Parties to such long-drawn proceedings can now be awarded monetary damages if the courts take longer than they should have. The new provisions were not exactly received with great enthusiasm, and most commentators were sceptical or even cynical about the effectiveness of the new law. So it was very interesting to see the first damages award come in. Continue reading