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How Qian Julie Wang’s Upbringing as an Undocumented Immigrant Informed Her Legal Career

September 28, 2022

How Qian Julie Wang’s Upbringing as an Undocumented Immigrant Informed Her Legal Career

For the keynote address of the LF Dealmakers conference, Validity Finance Founder and CEO Ralph Sutton, introduced NY Times Best-Selling Author and Civil Rights Litigator, Qian Julie Wang. Her memoir, Beautiful Country, was ranked a best book of 2021 by the New York Times, and has been well-reviewed by many distinguished outlets. Ms. Wang began by sharing her ‘most humiliating story’ from Big Law. She began her carer at a top-5 firm as a hungry summer associate eager to prove herself at this white-shoe law firm. She noticed that partners and associates kept coming to her asking her to take on various assignments, and didn’t realize that she should select which ones to work on, so she said yes to each offer, so quickly found herself working on 10 major litigation cases. For the next month, Ms. Wang skipped all of the orientation, lunches, outings, and buried her head in WestLaw doing research. It turns out, one of the training sessions she missed was quite important–because a senior partner at the firm called her into his office and asked her what the hell she had been doing for five weeks? Ms. Wang hadn’t been billing any of her research time, because she had missed the training session that explained that part of the process. So the vast majority of her work went un-billed. Through some self reflection, Ms. Wang realized that her problem stemmed from her belief that she didn’t belong. Her very first job was age 7 at a sweatshop in Chinatown, as an undocumented immigrant, and here she was in a fancy white-shoe law firm. She had spent her life afraid of anyone in a uniform, afraid they might be out to deport her. And so when she got her summer associate job at the law firm, she brought that insecurity in the door with her. Ms Wang described her family’s suffering under the Communist takeover of China, how they were imprisoned and tortured for reading banned books. She came to admire two Americans she read about–Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Thurgood Marshall. That was when she decided to become a lawyer, when she eventually came to America. However, like many lawyers, she fell into the trap of focusing just on the compensation. She billed and billed so many hours that she lost her sense of purpose. It wasn’t until she started writing her memoir, Beautiful Country, that she re-discovered the reason she became a lawyer in the first place. She realized that the little girl who had grown up working in a sweatshop dreamed of being a lawyer so she could help people, and here years later she had achieved that dream, but the allure of those billable hours had caused her to lose the plot. Ms. Wang took a sharp turn and decided to focus her efforts on helping marginalized communities. Her work now helps her find her way back to the child she was, and provides a sense of fulfillment about her career that she never previously experienced.
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Burford Hires Veteran Spanish Disputes Lawyer to Bolster EU Footprint

By John Freund |

Burford Capital has strengthened its European presence with its first senior hire in Spain, recruiting Teresa Gutiérrez Chacón as Senior Vice President based in Madrid.

According to the press release, Gutiérrez Chacón brings over 16 years of experience in complex dispute resolution, international arbitration, and legal strategy—most recently serving as Chief Legal Counsel for Pavilion Energy’s European trading arm. Her prior roles include positions at Freshfields and Gómez‑Acebo & Pombo, and she has been recognized by Legal 500 as a “Rising Star” in Litigation & Arbitration and named Best Arbitration Lawyer Under 40 by Iberian Lawyer.

In her new role, she will deepen Burford’s relationships with Spanish law firms and corporations, positioning the firm to address the growing demand in Spain for legal finance solutions. Burford emphasized that Spain’s sophisticated legal market presents “significant opportunities,” and that adding on‑the‑ground leadership in Madrid enhances its ability to deliver local insight and cross‑jurisdictional support.

Philipp Leibfried, Burford’s Head of Europe, noted that this hire demonstrates a commitment to expanding in key European jurisdictions and strengthening Burford’s role as a “trusted partner” for law firms and businesses seeking innovative capital solutions.

Case Developments Commercial

UK Supreme Court Upholds Key Class Action Win for Funders in Apple Case

By John Freund |

The UK Supreme Court has declined to hear Apple’s appeal in Apple Inc and others v Gutmann, leaving intact a Court of Appeal decision that significantly strengthens the position of litigation funders in collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).

An article in Law Gazette reports that the Supreme Court refused Apple’s petition on the grounds that it did not raise an arguable point of law, effectively endorsing the lower court’s April 2025 decision. That ruling affirmed that litigation funders can be paid directly from damages recovered in a class action before distributions are made to class members. The decision resolved longstanding ambiguity surrounding Sections 47C(3) and (6) of the Competition Act 1998 and Rule 93 of the CAT Rules 2015.

The Court of Appeal held that the CAT has wide discretionary authority to order payments to class representatives for costs, fees, and disbursements, provided such allocations are deemed fair and reasonable under the tribunal’s supervisory jurisdiction. This was a pivotal victory for claimant-side funders, who have long warned that being last in line for recovery—after damages are disbursed—posed unacceptable risk in UK opt-out cases.

Law firm Charles Lyndon, counsel for class representative Justin Gutmann, welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision not to revisit the matter, stating that it brings “welcome certainty” to the evolving collective proceedings regime and affirms the CAT’s broad discretion in addressing complex, end-of-case allocation scenarios.

This decision is expected to have a profound impact on the UK’s competition class action landscape. Funders now have greater confidence in the recoverability of their investments, potentially spurring more funding activity in CAT proceedings. The ruling may also prompt defendants to reconsider their settlement calculus, knowing that funders now enjoy a more secure repayment pathway.

Case Developments Commercial

Elite Colleges Challenge Lawyers’ Litigation Funding in Major Antitrust Case

By John Freund |

Elite U.S. universities embroiled in a high-stakes antitrust class action are now targeting the use of third‑party litigation funding by plaintiffs’ counsel in a bid to derail class certification. At issue is whether a lead firm’s reliance on external financing renders it “inadequate” under class action rules — a novel approach that raises fresh procedural and policy questions.

An article in Reuters notes the the suit alleges that Cornell, Penn, MIT, Georgetown, Notre Dame and others favored wealthy applicants over students needing financial aid, plaintiffs’ counsel (led by Gilbert Litigators & Counselors, or GLC) is facing attacks over transparency and risk allocation. The universities contend that GLC mischaracterized its financial exposure by not fully disclosing its funding arrangements. GLC responds that it only uses outside funding for a portion of its fees (covering 40% of its own, and under 16% of the aggregate) and that no court has previously held that use of funding makes class counsel inadequate. A judge has already found the funding documents “potentially relevant” to the certification motion, underscoring the stakes.

Legal commentators call this a new twist in class litigation — rather than questioning the merits or fairness of funding, defendants are now probing its procedural footprint. The case also dovetails with a broader trend: litigation funders are becoming more visible and controversial, particularly when their support is used by class‑action counsel. Reuters Meanwhile, in adjacent news, law firms are consolidating and AI‑driven tools for plaintiffs’ practices are attracting investor capital — further reshaping the economics of litigation.

This challenge could force courts nationwide to reinterpret adequacy standards in class actions, potentially chilling the use of external funding. It may also provoke funders, defense firms, and plaintiffs to recalibrate disclosure rules and risk-sharing norms across major litigation.