…Vulture funds buy up sovereign debt issued by poor countries at a fraction of its face value, then sue the countries in courts…for their full face value plus interest… A paper prepared for the IMF/World Bank meetings this week shows there are now $1.8bn of lawsuits against poor countries… [T]he report…shows that of the 24 countries that have received debt cancellation under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative, 11 have been targeted for legal action by private creditors… Top London law firms [refers to Allen & Overy (A&O), Weil Gotshal, Dechert] are reaping the benefits from bringing many of the vulture funds' cases to court in London… [includes comments by Allen & Overy, Dechert, and Weil Gotshal; also refers to Donegal International, Elliott Associates, Walker International, Biwater, Kensington International]