Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
LORD JUSTICE CHRISTOPHER CLARKE

JUDGMENT

LORD JUSTICE CHRISTOPHER CLARKE

1. On 17 December 2010 Excalibur Ventures LLC ("Excalibur"), a Delaware corporation, began this action against Texas Keystone Inc. ("Texas"), Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited and other Gulf Keystone companies ("the Gulf Defendants"), together "the Defendants". In it Excalibur claimed to be entitled to an interest in a number of oil fields in Kurdistan, which are potentially extremely profitable, and of which the Shaikan field is the most important. The claim was for specific performance of the Collaboration Agreement pursuant to which Excalibur claimed its entitlement to an interest in the fields or to damages which, as finally put, were said to be of the order of US $ 1.6 billion. On some unknown date Excalibur entered into some form of conditional fee agreement with Clifford Chance LLP ("Clifford Chance"), their solicitors.

2. On 10 September 2013 I read out in court the concluding paragraph of my judgment. On 13 December 2013 I handed down the full judgment. Its effect was that the claim failed on every point. On the same day I ordered that the claim be dismissed and that Excalibur should pay the Defendants their costs to be assessed on the indemnity basis. The reasons why I did so are set out in the judgment which I gave on that day ("the costs judgment").

3. I ordered Excalibur to make a payment on account of the Defendants' costs in the sum of 10,700,000 in respect of the Gulf Defendants, and 6,800,000 in respect of Texas. The sum of 17,500,000 which had been paid into Court as security was to be paid out to the Defendants forthwith in satisfaction of the payments on account which I had ordered.

4. I also ordered Excalibur to provide additional security for the Defendants' costs in the total sum of 5,612,010, failing which I gave the Defendants leave to join some of the funders of the action to the proceedings. That security was never provided. Leave was given to join the remainder of the funders subsequently.

5. Excalibur is but a nameplate for Rex and Eric Wempen. It could not have brought this action unless it had been financed by a number of different persons who at different times and in different amounts produced the monies necessary to start and, later, to continue the action. That included providing or contributing to the funds which were required to be paid into court by way of security for costs. In return the funders were to share, to differing extents, in the fruits of the action if it succeeded.

The funders

6. The funders divide into four groups. The initial funder was Mr Andonis Lemos ("Mr Lemos"). He is the sole shareholder of Psari Holdings Limited, a Cayman Island company, which is the vehicle through which he agreed to provide funds to Excalibur, initially in November 2010. The company was not set up for that purpose but in order to invest in, inter alia, litigation funds, managed by an experienced team.

7. In March 2012 further groups of funders and their parents appeared on the scene. The second group was Hamilton Capital LLC ("Hamilton"), a Delaware corporation formed on 9 January 2009, which is a 99% subsidiary of Platinum Partners Credit Opportunities Master Fund LLP ("PPCO"), a Delaware limited partnership, formed on 25 June 2008. (Excalibur was Hamilton's eighth funding engagement). The remaining 1% is shared equally between Mr Jack Simony ("Mr Simony", who is a portfolio manager for Hamilton and other associated legal entities and PPVA (see [9] below) and Mr Harvey Werblowsky ("Mr Werblowsky"). He was the Chief Legal Officer for PPCO and PPVA (see [9] below) and a Portfolio Manager for Hamilton and JH (see [10] below). PPCO is a master fund, whose partners include feeder funds which themselves are funded by individual investors.

8. The third group was Blackrobe AEO I Investors LLC ("Blackrobe"), a Delaware company, which is a fund administered by Blackrobe Capital Partners LLC ("Blackrobe Capital"). Blackrobe has acknowledged service but neither it nor Blackrobe Capital has taken any part in the proceedings.

9. In October 2012 a fourth group appeared, consisting of Huron Capital PLC ("Huron"), formed on 17 August 2........