As the Founder and CEO of Fenchurch Legal, Louisa is responsible for overseeing all business operations, including fundraising, and ensuring the business’s overall success.
Louisa founded Fenchurch Legal in 2020 after an interest in the litigation finance market sparked an idea to apply a secured lending model to litigation finance. She discovered a market largely dominated by funders focusing on high-value, complex cases such as class actions, however, there was a lack of support for smaller claims. This insight led to the creation of Fenchurch Legal.
Before launching Fenchurch Legal, Louisa operated the broking and dealing desk for a corporate brokerage and finance firm in London. In this role, she gained extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and investment product structuring. Her role involved daily interactions with both retail and professional investors, as well as corporate clients.
Below is our LFJ Conversation with Louisa Klouda: How does Fenchurch Legal differentiate itself from traditional litigation funders?Fenchurch Legal operates differently from traditional litigation funders in several ways. Firstly, we focus on high-volume, low-value, process-driven consumer cases such as housing disrepair and financial mis-selling, where there is strong legal precedent supporting the claim type. Whereas larger litigation funders typically invest in high-stakes commercial disputes or class actions with multimillion-pound claims.
Secondly, the way we structure our lending is different. Traditional funders invest in cases on an outcome basis, taking equity-style positions – meaning they only receive a return if the case is successful, so they bear the risk of loss if the case is unsuccessful. In contrast, Fenchurch Legal operates as a direct lender, providing secured revolving credit facilities to law firms to draw down against costs and disbursements are repaid regardless of case outcomes. This structured lending model offers stability for both law firms and investors, ensuring predictable outcomes and controlled risk.
The key differentiation is that traditional funders invest in cases, whereas we provide loans.
Why doesn't Fenchurch have in-house lawyers, and how do you obtain legal expertise on the cases you originate?That’s a great question and one we often get asked. The answer is simple: Fenchurch Legal is a lending business, not a law firm.
Operating within the private debt sector, we provide business loans specifically for consumer legal case costs and disbursements with minimal litigation. Our expertise lies in secured lending, structuring loans and managing financial risk – not litigating cases.
We partner with law firms by providing them with the financial resources they need to run cases efficiently, while we focus on risk management, due diligence, and loan security.
Before entering a specific case type, we work with legal advisors to obtain counsel’s opinion and review case law and outcomes to assess viability and risk.
As part of our underwriting process, we outsource legal expertise where needed to assess a law firm's legal procedures, compliance with SRA regulations, as well as case viability. Additionally, we continuously audit and monitor the firms we fund, ensuring they meet strict legal and regulatory requirements, both internally by our team and by outsourcing to specialist legal professionals.
Unlike traditional litigation funders who take an active role in case strategy, our role is purely financial. We lend, monitor, and safeguard investor capital, ensuring that the law firms we fund have the financial resources and oversight needed to handle legal claims successfully.
Fenchurch focuses on small-ticket claims. What opportunities and challenges does a focus on that end of the market bring?One of the biggest opportunities the small-ticket claim market brings is the ability to fund cases with a clear legal precedent against highly liquid defendants, such as government bodies, banks, or insurers. This ensures that we have no risk of non-payment of damages and costs.
Another advantage is the scalability of our model. By funding high volumes of claims, we can diversify risk across multiple law firms and case types. To date, we have funded over 15,000 small consumer claims. Out of the 6,145 loans that have been repaid, 92% were successful. For the 8% that were unsuccessful, ATE insurance provided the necessary coverage, reinforcing our robust risk management framework.
One of the challenges of funding smaller cases is the operational complexity of managing a high volume of claims efficiently. However, we have developed strong due diligence, auditing, and monitoring systems that allow us to track performance and mitigate potential risks. We also have our own loan management software which provides a complete overview of our loan book and how our law firms are performing.
How does Fenchurch handle security and risk management concerns?
At Fenchurch Legal, security and risk management are at the core of our lending model. As a direct lender, we structure loans to safeguard investor capital while ensuring law firms can operate effectively. Our key risk management strategies include:
- Secured Lending Structure – Loans are backed by ATE Insurance, case proceeds, debentures and personal guarantees, ensuring capital protection.
- Comprehensive Due Diligence – Before lending, we assess law firms’ track records, financial health, and case viability to ensure they meet our lending criteria.
- Legal Precedent & Expert Review – We consult with barristers, law firms, and experts to evaluate claim types and expected outcomes.
- Ongoing Monitoring & Auditing – We track performance, flag risks early, and ensure compliance with agreed terms.
- Diversification – We fund a high volume of small, process-driven cases to spread risk across multiple firms and claims.
How do investors benefit from Fenchurch Legal's differentiated approach to the market?
Investors choose Fenchurch Legal because they like our approach, which provides a predictable and secure investment opportunity. We operate as a direct lender offering structured loan facilities, meaning our investors benefit from a more stable, fixed-income-like investment model.
Our secured lending structure, combined with unique features such as risk management and diversification across a high volume of cases, provides investors with lower risk exposure and predictable returns.
As I often say, I come from a secured lending background, not a legal one. You wouldn’t ask us to stand up in court and argue a case, but you can trust us to look after investor money by structuring loans and managing risk effectively – that’s what we are good at.
