Founded in London in 2019 as a specialist, litigation-focused insurance provider, Litica is a market-leading underwriter of after-the-event (ATE) insurance. Boasting an underwriting panel that comprises the greatest number of legally trained underwriters in the market, the firm has provided more than $2.5bn in insurance capacity to clients across a significant number of jurisdictions. Other insurance products include capital protection insurance (CPI) for litigation funders, adverse cost insurance portfolios, and work in progress (WIP) insurance for law firms acting on contingency. Co-founders and co-managing directors Stephen Bolster and Steve Ruffle are both widely recognised as specialist underwriters in ATE insurance. Nicholas Marler is the principal UK underwriter, working on both an individual and portfolio basis to underwrite complex legal risk. Eliza Finch heads up the risk management team at the firm.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- Litica has successfully carved its position in the market as one of the leading providers of litigation risk capacity. They have built a team with a real depth of experience, which gives them the ability to attract some of the best insurer capacity in this space. Knowing they have that experience means you can have sensible conversations around cover because they understand litigation risk in all its guises. To have that available to us is hugely appealing.
- Litica is the largest provider of litigation insurance in the market by way of insurance capacity available. With that, it allows the team to participate in and structure larger and more complex risks, enabling us as brokers to better assist the clients to whom we look to offer solutions. They are willing to look for commercial solutions rather than putting up barriers.
Key clients
- Shazia Yamin Julian Chamberlayne Rhys Williams Adrian Chopin Charlie Morris Robert Rothkopf Steve Jones Robert Warner Jonathan Simon Mohsin Patel James Williamson Rosemary Ioannou John Astill James Gowen-Smith Michael Perich Tom Hunt Brandon Deme Tom Hunt Chris Williams
Work highlights
Mark McLaren Class Representative Limited v MOL (Europe Africa) Ltd and Others (“RoRo”). A Competition Appeal Tribunal claim brought following the ECs decision in Feb 2018 which found a cartel between 2006 and 2012 and fined shipping companies following a finding that maritime car carriers fixed prices, rigged bids and allocated the market for roll-on/roll-off transporter vehicles. It is a follow-on class action brought on behalf of all persons who purchased or financed new cars in the UK between 2006-2015 and required to pay an unlawfully inflated delivery charge as a consequence of that anti-competitive conduct.
Dr. Rachael Kent v Apple Inc. and Apple Distribution International Ltd 1403/7/7/21. A collective opt-out, standalone competition action before the CAT against Apple for app fees for sales, in-app purchases and subscriptions. App developers have no choice but to accept the 30% fee if they want to sell their applications on iOS devices. App developers pass on these costs to the users of the apps and in-app products, usually consumers. The claim asserts that these charges are excessive and amount to an abuse of Apple’s dominant position contrary to UK and EU competition law
Municipio de Mariana, Rodovia Juscelino Kubitschek and others v BHP Group Limited and another – HT-2022-000304. A class action brought for environmental damage in relation to the Fundão Dam collapse. In November 2015, the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history occurred. Warnings - including from the engineer responsible for the design of the Dam - to BHP and Vale that this posed critical risks to safety, and that cracks which appeared in the Dam were early signs of liquefaction and rupture, were disregarded. Instead, the joint venture continued to press ahead with raising the crest of the Dam at the average rate of around a metre a month. When the Dam collapsed on the afternoon of 5 November 2015, it released around 50m cubic metres of toxic waste into a tributary of the Rio Doce, killing 19 people and destroying villages, infrastructure, and priceless artefacts.
Practice head
Stephen Bolster; Steve Ruffle