Trending Now

Legal Funding Journal is dedicated to informing and engaging the global legal funding community through daily news, insight, analysis and original content.

Latest News

View All
Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: Dean Gresham, Managing Director, Certum Group

Dean Gresham is a Managing Director who oversees the evaluation, underwriting, and risk management of all the company’s risk transfer solutions, including litigation finance and contingent risk insurance. With 25 years of experience in complex litigation and legal risk analysis, Dean ensures rigorous underwriting standards and strategic risk mitigation across the company’s risk transfer solutions.

Before joining Certum Group, Dean was a trial lawyer for more than 21 years handling complex commercial, catastrophic injury, qui tam, and class action litigation across the country. While practicing, Dean litigated on both sides of the docket and developed a keen ability to analyze and assess risk from both the plaintiff’s and defendant's unique perspectives.

In 2020, Dean was awarded the Elite Trial Lawyer of the Year award by the National Law Journal for his trailblazing work on a complicated wrongful adoption case. Dean is consistently chosen by his peers as a Texas Super Lawyer (2009-2024); one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas by D Magazine (2009-2024), one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Texas by the National Association of Trial Lawyers (2011-2024), and in the Nation’s Top One Percent by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel (2019-2024).

Dean is the 2025 Chair of the Dallas Bar Association's prestigious Business Litigation Section and sits on the DBA’s Judiciary Committee.

Company Name and Description: Certum Group offers a next-generation litigation risk transfer platform that provides bespoke solutions for companies, law firms, and funders facing the uncertainty of litigation. Latin for “certainty,” Certum represents the core benefit the company delivers to its clients across its entire suite of risk transfer solutions.  Certum is the full-service funding and insurance partner for law firms and their business clients.

Company Website: www.certumgroup.com

Year Founded: 2014 

Headquarters:  Plano, Texas

Area of Focus: Member: Head of Underwriting and Chair of the Investment Committee.

Member Quote: “Litigation funding doesn’t just fuel cases—it fuels justice. Power should never trump merit.”

Highlights from LFJ’s Virtual Town Hall: Investor Perspectives

By John Freund and 4 others |

On March 27th, LFJ hosted a virtual town hall featuring key industry stakeholders giving their perspectives on investment within the legal funding sector. Our esteemed panelists included Chris Capitanelli (CC), Partner at Winston and Strawn, LLP, Joel Magerman (JM), CEO of Bryant Park Capital, Joe Siprut (JSi), Founder and CEO of Kerberos Capital, and Jaime Sneider (JSn), Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group. The panel was moderated by Ed Truant (ET), Founder of Slingshot Capital.

Below are highlights from the discussion:

One thing that piqued my interest recently was the recent Georgia jury that awareded a single plaintiff $2.1 billion in one of 177 lawsuits against Monsanto. What is your perspective on the health of the mass tort litigation market in general?

JSn: Well, I think nuclear verdicts get way more attention than they probably deserve. That verdict is going to end up getting reduced significantly because the punitive damages that were awarded were unconstitutionally excessive. I think it was a 30 to 1 ratio. I suspect that will just easily be reduced, and there will probably be very little attention associated with that reduction, even though that's a check that's already in place to try to prevent outsized judgments that aren't tied as much to compensatory damages. I expect Monsanto will also likely challenge the verdict on other grounds as well, which is its right to do.

The fact is, there are a whole number of checks that are in place to ensure the integrity of our verdicts in the US legal system, and it's already extraordinarily costly and difficult for a person that files a case who has to subject himself to discovery, prevail on motions to dismiss, prevail on motions for summary judgment, win various expert rulings related to the expert evidence. And even if a plaintiff does prevail like this one has before a jury, they face all sorts of post-trial briefing remedies that could result in a reduction or setting aside the verdict, and then they face appeals. The fact is, I think corporate defendants have a lot of ways of protecting themselves if they choose to go to trial or if they choose to litigate the case.

And I think, oftentimes when people talk about the mass tort space, their disagreement really isn't with a specific case, but with the US Constitution itself, which protects the right to juries, even in civil litigation in this country. The fact is that there is a rich tradition in the United States that recognizes tort is essential to deterring wrongdoing. And ensuring people are fairly compensated for the injuries that they sustained due to unsafe products or other situations. So, broadly speaking, we don't think in any systematic a way that reform is required, although I suspect around the margins there could be modest changes that might make sense.

Omni has made a number of recent moves involving secondary sales and private credit to improve their earnings and cash flow. What is your sense of how much pressure the industry is under to produce cash flow for its investors?

JM: I think there is some pressure for sure, but more than pressure, I think it's a natural thing for self-interested managers to want to give their investors realizations so that they can raise more capital, right?

So, even if no one had ever told me, boy, it would be nice to get money back at some point in the future, that would obviously still be what I'm incentivized to do because the sooner I can get realizations and get cash back, the sooner people can have confidence that, wow, this actually really works, and then they give you 2x the investment for the next vehicle.

So the pressure is, I think, part of it. But for a relatively new asset class like litigation finance, which is still in middle innings, I think, at most, you want realizations. You want to turn things over as quickly as you can, and you want to get capital back.

In terms of what ILFA is doing, do you feel like they're doing enough for the industry to counter some of the attacks that are coming from the US Chamber of Commerce and others?

CC: I think there has been a focus from ILFA on trying to prevent some of the state court legislation from kind of acting as a test case, so to speak, for additional litigation. So there's been, you know, they've been involved in the big stuff, but also the little stuff, so it's not used against us, so to speak.

So I think in that regard, it's good. I wonder at what point is there some sort of proposal, as to if there's something that's amenable, is there something that we can all get behind, if that's what's needed in order to kind of stop these broad bills coming into both state legislatures and Congress. But I think overall, the messaging has been clear that this is not acceptable and is not addressing the issue.

Pretium, a relative newcomer to the market, just announced a $500 million raise. At the same time, it's been rumored that Harvard Endowment, which has traditionally been a significant investor in the commercial litigation finance market, is no longer allocating capital to the Litfin space. What is your sense of where this industry continues to be in favor with investors, and what are some of the challenges?

JSi: On the whole, I think the answer is yes, it continues to be in favor with investors, probably increasing favor with investors. From our own experience, we talk to LPs or new LPs quite frequently where we are told that just recently that institution has internally decided that they are now green lighting initiatives in litigation finance or doing a manager search. Whereas for the past three or four years, they've held off and it's just kind of been in the queue. So the fact that that is happening seems to me that investors are increasingly interested.

Probably part of the reason for that is that as the asset class on the whole matures, individual managers have longer track records. Maybe certain managers are on their third or fourth vintage. And there are realized results that can be put up and analyzed that give investors comfort. It's very hard to do that on day one. But when you're several years into it, or at this point longer for many people, it becomes a lot easier. And so I think we are seeing some of that.

One of the inherent challenge to raising capital in the litigation finance asset class is that even just the term litigation finance itself is sort of shrouded in mystery. I mean, it's very unclear what that even means and it turns out that it means many different things. The media on the whole, not including LFJ obviously, but the media on the whole has not done us many favors in that regard because they often use the term litigation finance to mean one specific thing, oftentimes case finance, specific equity type risk on a single case, when in fact, there are many of us who do all kinds of different things: law firm lending, the credit stuff, the portfolio finance stuff. There's all kinds of different slivers. And so the effect of that is that an LP or factions within an LP may have a preconceived notion about what litigation finance is, which is completely wrong. And they may have a preconceived notion of what a particular manager's strategy is. That's completely wrong.

I also think that litigation finance provokes an almost emotional reaction sometimes. It's often the case that investments get shot down because someone on the IC says that they hate lawyers, or they got sued once, and so they hate lawyers. And so they want nothing to do with litigation finance. And so whether that's fair or unfair is irrelevant. I think it is something that is a factor and that doesn't help. But I'd like to think that on the whole, the good strategies and the good track records will win the day in the end.

The discussion can be viewed in its entirety here.

Manolete Partners Announces New Revolving Credit Facility with HSBC Bank

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

Manolete Partners Plc (AIM:MANO), the leading UK-listed insolvency litigation financing company, is pleased to announce it has signed a new Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") with its existing provider, HSBC UK Bank Plc ( "HSBC"). 

The new RCF provides Manolete with the same level of facility as the previous arrangement, at £17.5m. However, the margin charged to Manolete by HSBC on the new RCF is at a reduced rate of 4.0% (previously 4.7%) over the Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) and has a reduced non-utilisation fee, from 1.88% to 1.40%. 

The new RCF is a 3.25-year facility with an initial maturity of 27 June 2028. Manolete has the option to further extend the facility on its current terms by an additional year. 

The covenants remain unchanged except for the Asset Cover covenant which has been relaxed for the next six months. 

Steven Cooklin, CEO commented: "We are delighted to have secured a new long-term commitment to the business from HSBC, which is testament to the strong partnership we have established since 2018. The improved terms of the facility demonstrate confidence in the Manolete business." 

This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). 

Georgia Legislature Approves Amended Litigation Funding Bill

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

As LFJ has reported over recent weeks, the push for new rules governing litigation funding across several U.S. states has gained traction in 2025, with Georgia now set to impose new legislation that includes several restrictions on third-party funding in the state. 

An article in the Georgia Recorder covers the news that the state’s legislature has voted to pass a bill designed to impose new restrictions and oversight on third-party litigation funding in Georgia. Senate Bill 69 was passed by a vote of 98-69 in the House of Representatives, following amendments made in the committee stage, and has since returned to the Senate where a vote on the amended bill passed with 52 Yea votes. The bill, along with Senate Bill 68 which is part of the wider tort reform legislative package, will now go to the Governor to be signed into law.

The amendments made in the House Subcommittee of Rules on Lawsuit Reform include provisions for the state’s Department of Banking and Finance to deny funders’ applications to register. Furthermore, disclosure requirements have been updated to include any stakeholder who has a 10% or greater stake in a litigation funder, as well as clarified language in the sections dealing with foreign entities involved in third-party funding.

James Burchett, the House Majority Caucus Whip, said that the bill aims to address absence of any “provisions whatsoever that outline regulations on litigation financing,”  and will seek to “put some guard rails and regulation on the industry.” Voting in opposition to the bill, Minority Caucus Chair Tanya Miller argued that the bill “attempts to solve a problem that simply doesn’t exist”, and that the bill is “part of a broader propaganda playbook designed to protect big business and the insurance industry at the expense of everyday Georgians.” 

Miller further highlighted that during the evaluation of the legislation by the House’s committees, “not a single case in Georgia was identified to justify this legislation.” 

Favourable Ruling for Woodsford in Standard Chartered Claim

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

When shareholders suffer losses as a result of corporate governance failures by large financial institutions, investors often require the support of litigation funders in their efforts to seek justice and secure compensation from these multinational giants. 

An announcement from Woodsford revealed that a group of institutional investors bringing a group claim against Standard Chartered, with litigation funding provided by Woodsford, have received a favourable judgment in the High Court. The judgment handed down by Mr Justice Michael Green dismissed Standard Chartered’s application to strike out a portion of the group claim, which means that the claim can now proceed towards its scheduled trial in October 2026.  

The claim focuses on allegations that the bank failed in its corporate governance around its dealings with Iran and Iranian-linked institutions that were subject to US sanctions, resulting in financial losses suffered by shareholders. 

Standard Chartered applied to strike out “Common Reliance” claims of 949 of the funds that are participating in the group claims, with these funds representing 68% of the claimants funds that account for over £760 million of the claim value. Green J’s judgment examined the prior ruling on a strike out application in a similar claim, Allianz Funds Multi-Strategy Trust and ors v Barclays plc [2024], but found that he had “doubts about the correctness” of that decision. 

In his conclusion on the common reliance claims, Green J wrote: “There are factual matters that, in my view, require determination and the expert evidence might assist in understanding the extent to which the Published Information would have affected the market price and its influence therefore on the decisions made by the Claimants.”

Signature Litigation acted for the claimants, instructing Graham Chapman KC, Shail Patel KC and William Harman of 4 New Square.

The full judgment from Green J in Various Claimants v Standard Chartered can be read here.

Matthew Gwynne and Edwin Harrap Launch Litigation Capital Solutions

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

As the world of legal finance continues to expand, it is no surprise that new companies are offering services that can connect the multitude of parties looking to get involved in third-party funding.

A post on LinkedIn announced the launch of Litigation Capital Solutions, a new litigation finance venture designed to connect investment opportunities from funding platforms with institutional and other investors. The company aims to work with law firms, funders and insurers via a portfolio of solutions including capital raising opportunities, due diligence services, and stakeholder alignment.

Following its launch, Litigation Capital Solutions is already engaged in capital raising projects across a range of investment opportunities, up to a total value of £130 million.

Litigation Capital Solutions was founded by Matthew Gwynne and Edwin Harrap, who bring a wealth of experience in financial services, capital raising and specialist funding. Gwynne’s career highlights include six years at Investec in private banking, over two years as Head of Credit Structuring in the UK for Standard Chartered Bank, and most recently serving as Director, Business Development and Client Relations for SpectraLegal. Harrap began his career at KPMG before moving on to Deutsche Bank where he served as Director for Emerging Markets Structured Credit Trading; and joins this new venture from Alantra where he spent six years as a Director.

More information about Litigation Capital Solutions can be found on the company’s website. 

Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: James Koutoulas, CEO, JurisTrade & Typhon Capital Management

James Koutoulas is the CEO of JurisTrade as well its asset management affiliate, Typhon Capital Management, which is a multi-strategy hedge fund with US and Cayman private fund platforms. He is also Managing Member of Koutoulas Law, LLC, a law firm specializing in high-profile financial services litigation.

James founded Typhon in 2008 and it has since grown to 25 staff members, 15 (including many award-winning) trading strategies with operations in 4 countries and 8 cities. While running Typhon, he served as lead customer counsel in the MF Global bankruptcy, leading the recovery of all $6.7 billion in customer assets.

He has successfully litigated a multi-billion cryptocurrency fraud class action, a statistical arbitrage IP theft arbitration, a breach of contract jury trial against a billion-dollar asset management, and a capacity-rights guarantee contract dispute against a quantitative hedge fund. He is a frequent contributor to CNBC, thestreet.com, CoinDesk, and other prominent media outlets. He served on the Board and Executive Committee of the National Futures Association, the derivatives self-regulatory organization, where he helped implement the Dodd-Frank rules on the multi-trillion-dollar swaps market and has advised Congress on commodity and bankruptcy laws and regulations.

James has a JD from the Northwestern University School of Law with a securities concentration.

Company Name and Description: JurisTrade has designed a Litigation Asset Marketplace (operated by trading affiliate, Typhon Capital Management) to package and/or securitize litigation finance solutions to law firms, owners of bankruptcy, mass tort, and other litigation claims, and third-party investors looking for exposure to the asset class. JurisTrade offers a new and disruptive solution: it allows law firms, plaintiffs, and/or those with a financial interest in litigation the opportunity to sell or assign an interest in litigation outcomes to qualified investors in a much more efficient manner than is currently available.

Typhon Capital Management is a multi-strategy hedge fund specializing in tactical trading strategies designed to be uncorrelated to traditional markets under most market conditions and have strong negative correlation during periods of stress. Typhon dedicates itself to developing unique strategies that are truly differentiated and perform when almost everything else fails. Typhon uses unique, modular strategies as building blocks to design bespoke products to meet each investor’s individual needs.

Company Website: https://juristrade.com/ & https://typhoncap.com/

Year Founded: JurisTrade – 2023 & Typhon - 2008  

Headquarters:  1691 Michigan Ave Suite 200, Miami Beach, FL 33139

Area of Focus:  JurisTrade – Litigation Finance & Typhon Capital Management – Finance, Alternative Investments

Member Quote: “By adding standardization, liquidity, and transparency to the nascent but growing litigation finance market, we will institutionalize one of the final frontiers in asset management.”

Angeion Group Expands Mass Tort Litigation Management Capabilities Through Merger with Case Works

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

Angeion Group (“Angeion”), the industry leader in end-to-end group litigation support, announced today its merger with Case Works, a premier provider of case data management solutions, including client engagement, medical record retrieval, medical review, and inventory analysis. Neutral, but never passive, this strategic integration of Case Works reinforces Angeion’s forward thinking approach to providing seamless tech-enabled support for complex litigation firms and leading law departments, with efficiency and precision.

The merger of Angeion and Case Works follows majority investments into both companies by private equity firm Renovus Capital Partners (“Renovus”) in 2024. Angeion also acquired bankruptcy administration solutions provider Donlin Recano in late 2024. Renovus worked alongside the companies’ founders and management teams to unify the businesses and deliver a seamless experience for clients and employees throughout the integration.

Case Works has earned a reputation of excellence by ensuring accuracy, completeness, and applicability of case data to support legal requirements. By combining their core capabilities with Angeion’s advanced technology and data-driven approach, this merger further solidifies Angeion’s position as the most trusted partner for navigating complex, high-stakes litigation and settlements.

Effective large-scale litigation and settlements rely on comprehensive, well-organized data and the ability to apply that data effectively within the context of a particular project. Combining Case Works’ proven excellence in capturing and managing critical case information with Angeion Group’s expertise in technology, process efficiency and claims management, provides a more structured, more transparent, and more effective approach to large-scale litigation and settlement management.

“Case Works brings deep expertise and a proven track record of supporting firms with large data and medical record retrieval needs. They are known for their dedication to precision, care and bedside manner,” said Steven Weisbrot, CEO of Angeion Group. “Together, we are raising the bar for what clients can expect—faster, more accurate processes and a commitment to white glove service.”

Angeion Group and Case Works share a common vision: to set the new standard for how large-scale litigation and group settlement support can combine technological efficiency with thoughtful human interaction. Both organizations are driven by a commitment to innovation, precision, and efficiency and are mindful that litigants should expect and receive compassion and respect throughout the group litigation process. This merger will elevate industry standards and ensure that all parties, their council, and the courts benefit from a more streamlined, thoughtful and effective process.

“We’re excited to join forces with Angeion Group,” said Susan Barfield, Founder of Case Works. “Their commitment to innovation and client service aligns perfectly with our own, and we look forward to delivering even greater value to the firms and clients we support.”

“We’re honored to have partnered with these leading companies, building upon our strong track record in tech-enabled legal services,” added Lee Minkoff, Managing Director at Renovus. “We’d also like to thank founders Steve Weisbrot and Susan Barfield for their leadership throughout this game changing merger for the group litigation support industry.”

Angeion remains steadfast in its mission to completely modernize and optimize complex litigation management to the benefit of all stakeholders.

About Case Works

Case Works is the leading provider of tech-enabled litigation support solutions to the country’s premier plaintiff law firms. Based in Austin, Texas, the Company was created with a single mission: To Help Lawyers Help People. Case Works provides a full suite of case management services including claims qualification, intake, medical records retrieval & review, case development, and ongoing plaintiff engagement.

About Angeion Group

Angeion Group is a leading provider of legal notice and settlement administration services, leveraging advanced technology, proven best practices, and expert consulting to manage class actions, mass torts, and collective redress administration. Recognized for its innovation, efficiency, and unwavering client commitment, Angeion Group continues to redefine industry standards.

Nicola Horlick Pauses Digital Bank Launch to Raise Funds for Motor Finance Claims

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

As LFJ covered last week, the group proceedings being brought against motor finance providers over commissions paid to dealers is attracting a significant amount of interest across the legal funding industry, with the possibility of lucrative settlements to come. 

An article in Financial News features an interview with investment fund manager Nicola Horlick, who discusses her focus on litigation funding for the high-profile motor finance claims in the UK. Horlick, founder and CEO of Money&Co, explained that her company is currently raising funds to lend to law firms that are working on the car finance commission claims. Speaking about the significance of these claims to the wider legal funding industry, Horlick argued that “this is the biggest thing that is likely to happen in litigation funding in the next 15 years.”

The emphasis placed on raising funds for these claims has caused Horlick to pause her plans to launch a digital bank in 2025, with the fund manager explaining that they “don’t have the bandwidth to do the fundraise for that and the bank”. Horlick went on to state that fundraising for the claims “has to be the priority”, and that in the time before these claims begin to reach settlements, “we need to help clients amass as many claims as possible.”

Ignite Specialty Risk Expands Litigation Insurance Offering to the EEA

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

As industry observers examine which jurisdictions are ripe for growth in terms of the adoption of litigation funding, there is just as much interest in markets with growing demand for litigation insurance products.

In a recent announcement, Ignite Specialty Risk revealed that the litigation risk insurer has expanded its service offering to include the European Economic Area (EEA). As part of this expansion, Ignite will be able to provide insurance products including After The Event (ATE), and single risk and portfolio Capital Protection Insurance (CPI) to customers in the EEA. 

The company highlighted that this move has been driven by the increased demand for litigation risk insurance in the EEA, following on from the European Union’s implementation of the Representative Actions Directive (RAD). Ignite’s Co-founder and Head of ATE, Jamie Molloy, expanded on this point and said that “the growing demand for specialist litigation insurance in the region reflects the increasing importance of accessible risk-transfer solutions.”

Byron Sumner, CEO and Co-founder of Ignite, provided the following comment on the launch of services to the EEA: “Building on our US expansion in 2024, we are thrilled to bring our innovative products to EEA-based insureds. Last year, US-based institutional financiers and law firms began using our products to facilitate meaningful risk transfer and improve access to justice. By entering the EEA, we aim to deliver customised solutions that address the unique challenges of cross-border disputes. This strategic step reinforces our commitment to empowering businesses and legal teams with the tools to manage litigation risks effectively.”

Fundraising

View All

Case Developments

View All

Legal Innovation

View All

People Moves

View All

Regulatory

View All

Consumer

View All

Thought Leadership

View All