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Member Spotlight: Blake Trueblood

November 8, 2023

Member Spotlight: Blake Trueblood

Blake Trueblood, a seasoned advocate and litigator, brings over eighteen years of experience to the forefront of the litigation finance industry. As co-founder of Invenio LLP, Blake has played a pivotal role in the firm’s dedication to the emerging litigation finance sector. His extensive background includes serving as General Counsel for a group of litigation finance and claims management companies, where he assisted plaintiffs and law firms in various practice areas, from personal injury to mass torts.
Blake’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found and manage a Florida-based law firm, specializing in representing claimants in personal injury, discrimination, and commercial claims. His practice has catered to both individuals and businesses seeking just compensation. Beyond his legal expertise, Blake has earned the trust of entrepreneurs, Native American tribes, and media personalities. His insightful commentary on topics like litigation finance and Tribal economic development has solidified his reputation as a thought leader. Born in the Midwest and raised in Florida, Blake now splits his time between Washington, D.C., and Fort Lauderdale, where he has a home with his significant other Maria, their daughter Amber,  and his dog Bella, a chihuahua-beagle mix. As an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Blake is deeply connected to Native American culture and its economic development initiatives. In his free time, he’s an avid hiker, runner, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, holding a black belt since 2015, with a second-degree earned in 2021. Company Name & Description: Invenio LLP is a leading provider of legal services for those navigating the complexities of the litigation finance industry. Our founding partners have extensive experience in claimant funding, law firm lending, and litigation supported by third-party funding. We serve claimants, the law firms who advocate on their behalf, and the lenders and funders that provide the capital necessary to see justice through. Our lawyers bring a wealth of experience to the rapidly evolving litigation finance landscape. We’ve represented both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation, and immersed ourselves in venture start-ups and private equity ventures catering to plaintiffs, law firms, and claims development experts, giving us a unique blend of expertise suited to untangle the complexities of the litigation finance space and find solutions. Invenio is committed to increasing access to civil justice by helping plaintiffs of all types access courts and level the playing field against well-resourced defendants.  We believe litigation finance can be a force multiplier for plaintiffs and the firms that represent them. We aim to make the process of exploring and obtaining litigation finance clear, fair, and straightforward. Company Website: inveniolaw.com Year Founded: 2022 Headquarters: Invenio has joint headquarters in Washington, D.C. and Fort Lauderdale. Area of Focus: Invenio LLP is fully engaged in all aspects of the rapidly emerging litigation finance industry. The firm’s founding partners have each worked on multiple claimant funding and law firm loan transactions and have themselves litigated cases where law firm portfolio funding or third-party case funding was used. Our clients are law firms borrowing for their cases or portfolios, claimants seeking traditional third-party funding, lenders seeking assistance with underwriting and servicing of cases or portfolios of cases, and parties to disputes or workouts. We focus on Case & Portfolio Underwriting; Borrower & Claimant Side Representation; and Pre-Settlement, Post-Settlement & Medical Lien Funding. Member Quote: “We believe that litigation finance levels the playing field in the fight for access to justice, both for claimants and the attorneys and law firms that represent them on the front lines. Invenio LLP was founded on that principle, and we focus our efforts each day on ensuring that plaintiffs, their advocates, and the investors who fund their efforts get the guidance they need to navigate this complex industry.”
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Case Developments Commercial

King & Spalding Sued Over Litigation Funding Ties and Overbilling Claims

By John Freund |

King and Spalding is facing a malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit from former client David Pisor, a Chicago-based entrepreneur, who claims the law firm pushed him into a predatory litigation funding deal and massively overbilled him for legal services. The complaint, filed in Illinois state court, accuses the firm of inflating its rates midstream and steering Pisor toward a funding agreement that primarily served the firm's financial interests.

An article in Law.com reports that the litigation stems from King and Spalding's representation of Pisor and his company, PSIX LLC, in a 2021 dispute. According to the complaint, the firm directed him to enter a funding arrangement with an entity referred to in court as “Defendant SC220163,” which is affiliated with litigation funder Statera Capital Funding. Pisor alleges that after securing the funding, King and Spalding tied its fee structure to it, raised hourly rates, and billed over 3,000 hours across 30 staff and attorneys within 11 months, resulting in more than $3.5 million in fees.

The suit further alleges that many of these hours were duplicative, non-substantive, or billed at inflated rates, with non-lawyer work charged at partner-level fees. Pisor claims he was left with minimal control over his case and business due to the debt incurred through the funding arrangement, despite having a company valued at over $130 million at the time.

King and Spalding, along with the associated litigation funder, declined to comment. The lawsuit brings multiple claims including legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and violations of Illinois’ Consumer Legal Funding Act.

Commercial Legal Innovation

Legal Finance and Insurance: Burford, Parabellum Push Clarity Over Confrontation

By John Freund |

An article in Carrier Management highlights a rare direct dialogue between litigation finance leaders and insurance executives aimed at clearing up persistent misconceptions about the role of legal finance in claims costs and social inflation.

Burford Capital’s David Perla and Parabellum Capital’s Dai Wai Chin Feman underscore that much of the current debate stems from confusion over what legal finance actually is and what it is not. The pair participated in an Insurance Insider Executive Business Club roundtable with property and casualty carriers and stakeholders, arguing that the litigation finance industry’s core activities are misunderstood and mischaracterized. They contend that legal finance should not be viewed as monolithic and that policy debates often conflate fundamentally different segments of the market, leading to misdirected criticism and calls for boycotts.

Perla and Feman break legal finance into three distinct categories: commercial funding (non-recourse capital for complex business-to-business disputes), consumer funding (non-recourse advances in personal injury contexts), and law firm lending (recourse working capital loans).

Notably, commercial litigation finance often intersects with contingent risk products like judgment preservation and collateral protection insurance, demonstrating symbiosis rather than antagonism with insurers. They emphasize that commercial funders focus on meritorious, high-value cases and that these activities bear little resemblance to the injury litigation insurers typically cite when claiming legal finance drives inflation.

The authors also tackle common industry narratives head-on, challenging assumptions about funder influence on verdicts, market scale, and settlement incentives. They suggest that insurers’ concerns are driven less by legal finance itself and more by issues like mass tort exposure, opacity of investment vehicles, and alignment with defense-oriented lobbying groups.

Commercial

Courmacs Legal Leverages £200M in Legal Funding to Fuel Claims Expansion

By John Freund |

A prominent North West-based claimant law firm is setting aside more than £200 million to fund a major expansion in personal injury and assault claims. The substantial reserve is intended to support the firm’s continued growth in high-volume litigation, as it seeks to scale its operations and increase its market share in an increasingly competitive sector.

As reported in The Law Gazette, the move comes amid rising volumes of claims, driven by shifts in legislation, heightened public awareness, and a more assertive approach to legal redress. With this capital reserve, the firm aims to bolster its ability to process a significantly larger caseload while managing rising operational costs and legal pressures.

Market watchers suggest the firm is positioning itself not only to withstand fluctuations in claim volumes but also to potentially emerge as a consolidator in the space, absorbing smaller firms or caseloads as part of a broader growth strategy.

From a legal funding standpoint, this development signals a noteworthy trend. When law firms build sizable internal war chests, they reduce their reliance on third-party litigation finance. This may impact demand for external funders, particularly in sectors where high-volume claimant firms dominate. It also brings to the forefront important questions about capital risk, sustainability, and the evolving economics of volume litigation. Should the number of claims outpace expectations, even a £200 million reserve could be put under pressure.