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Louise Hird joins Therium Capital Management Australia from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Melbourne/ Jersey, 30 January 2019. Therium Capital Management, a leading global provider of litigation finance, announced today that Louise Hird has been appointed to the firm as an investment manager. Louise joins Therium from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), where she was a director leading investigations focused on consumer and competition law. Founded in 2009, Therium is one of the largest and most established litigation financing firms in the world. The firm has funded claims valued at $36 billion.

Therium Capital Management Australia Pty Ltd is headquartered in Melbourne and is led by Simon Dluzniak, who has worked in the funding industry in Australia and the UK since 2003.

Therium has funded claims in Australia since 2011 and is currently funding high profile shareholder class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd and Spotless Group Holdings Ltd, as well as delivery management software company GetSwift Ltd.  Therium Capital Management Australia will continue to finance class actions and general commercial, insolvency and arbitration claims. The firm will also seek to develop the country’s emerging corporate funding and portfolio funding markets, as well as investigate the funding of arbitration claims in Hong Kong and Singapore, both of which are emerging markets for litigation finance.

Simon Dluzniak, Head of Therium Capital Management Australia, said: “We are very excited about launching our office in Melbourne and delighted that Louise has joined the team.  Her competition experience will be invaluable as we continue to deliver innovative funding solutions for our clients.  Whilst our business has been very successful in Australia for some time and we are funding some major cases, having a team on the ground ensures that we are closer to our clients, and better positioned to capitalise on market opportunities in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region more broadly.”

Louise Hird, Investment Manager at Therium Capital Management Australia, said: “I have known of Therium for many years and have been hugely impressed. The team has tremendous experience in funding highly complex, often cross border cases, both claimant and defendant side, and has been at the forefront of developing the industry globally. I am very excited to join the firm and look forward to building the business further in Australia and the wider region, as well as working with our international teams to leverage Australia’s long standing experience of funding.”

Prior to joining Therium, Simon spent 12 years with another international funder, leading on cases in Australia and the UK. He has significant funding experience, particularly in relation to class action and insolvency litigation, having managed a number of high-profile funded cases in both jurisdictions. Previously, Simon worked with corporate regulators in Australia and the UK, and at Ernst & Young. He graduated from La Trobe University with degrees in Arts (BA) and Law (LLB) in 1997.

At the ACCC, Louise led a wide variety of investigations into misconduct in various industries.  She has advised at a high level on enforcement strategy and case formulation in complex matters, and managed proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia.  Louise has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Laws (Juris Doctor) from Monash University.

Therium has operations across Europe, including in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia, and in the US. Therium was the first commercial litigation funder to have operations on the ground in Germany and Scandinavia and it was the first European firm to launch a full service business in the US.

Litigation funding allows individuals and companies to take on litigation and arbitration cases that they might not otherwise be able to afford, and/or to hedge the costs and risks involved in such matters. Therium pays for all of the costs, including adverse costs in the event that the case is lost, and only receives payment if the case is won.

Therium Capital Management Australia Pty Ltd is located at: Level 3, 257 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC  3000. Telephone: +61 (0)3 8375 9641.

About Therium

Founded in 2009, Therium is a leading global litigation financing firm with a market-leading track record of generating superior returns for its investors. The firm works across all forms of commercial litigation and arbitration and invests in a broad range of complex commercial disputes, from securities and shareholder actions, international arbitration, competition and antitrust cases, through to intellectual property, insolvency and class actions. In February 2018, Therium announced its latest fund of £200 million, which the company is now actively deploying, and Therium has now raised nearly $800 million since its foundation. To date, the firm globally has funded claims valued at $36 billion. Therium has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in litigation finance, pioneering the combined use of insurance tools alongside funding vehicles, and introducing portfolio funding products into the UK.

The firm’s ability to develop innovative funding arrangements and bespoke financial solutions for litigants and law firms complements its unmatched experience and rigorous approach to funding a wide range of commercial disputes throughout the world.  In Chambers and Partners’ inaugural litigation support directory this year, Therium was ranked as a Tier 1 litigation funder. Therium is a founder member of the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales.

www.therium.com

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Sentry Expands Free Funding Market Search for Litigators

By John Freund |

Sentry Funding’s free tool enabling litigators to instantly search the funding market on behalf of clients has been expanded.

Sentry’s free ‘decision in principle’ feature enables lawyers to evidence to clients that they have conducted a broad market search, even if funding is not ultimately taken out.

Having deployed £125m in funding across a range of case types, Sentry now has access to an even broader funding marketplace, covering 34 global jurisdictions. Finance is provided by 13 funders, five of which are members of the Association of Litigation Funders.

With the recent addition of Sentry’s first US-based funder, the US offering will now be expanding over the next few months. 

A faster process

Sentry has deployed the latest technology to make the search for funding even easier. 

  • The intuitive application process now only asks questions relevant to previous answers, saving lawyers time.
  • The commercial marketplace has been redeveloped with 63 new data points added to the funder criteria matrix - improving the accuracy of case / funder matching
  • Sentry has also begun building out its AI capabilities, starting with an automated auditing tool for live case progression audits. 

Tom Webster, chief executive officer at Sentry Funding, said:

‘By broadening our reach and speeding up the process, we’re making it even easier for lawyers to raise funding. We’re also giving litigators an easy way to show clients they have fully researched the market, rather than just approaching one or two funders. 

‘The service is free to use, so even if clients decide they do not ultimately want funding or if none is available for that case, for the lawyer, it makes sense to use our “decision in principle” feature, so they can put evidence on file that they did check the market.’

Sentry Funding is an SaaS (software as a service) technology provider that gives solicitors access to a diverse marketplace of litigation funders. It works with solicitors, funders and third-party providers to ensure claimants are getting the most efficient service for their funding needs. 

The Sentry Portal also acts as a case management system that runs a transparent digital case file for solicitors, funders, after-the-event insurance providers, barristers, cost lawyers and other relevant third parties.

NorthWall Capital Hits €2.9 B AUM on Private Credit Momentum

By John Freund |

NorthWall Capital has rocketed past €2.9 billion in assets under management after pulling in an additional €1.6 billion of institutional capital in 2025 alone. The London-based alternative credit manager says the surge reflects allocators’ intensifying hunt for scaled, multi-strategy platforms as Europe’s banks retrench and borrowers seek bespoke sources of credit.

A press release from NorthWall Capital details first-close totals across four distinct strategies. The flagship Credit Opportunities fund secured €731 million—already eclipsing its prior vintage—while the newly launched Senior Lending vehicle raised $503 million, translating to roughly $750 million of deployable firepower once leverage is applied. Asset-Backed Opportunities collected €252 million for collateral-rich loans in sectors underserved by traditional lenders, and the specialist Legal Assets platform locked down $169 million to extend the firm’s law-firm lending programme.

Founder and CIO Fabian Chrobog said the fundraising validates “the consistency of our approach” and NorthWall’s ability to craft solutions that resonate with investors and counterparties alike. With headcount slated to hit 40 by year-end, the firm plans to lean further into complex, situational credit born of bank deleveraging, regulatory shifts and sponsors’ need for certainty of execution.

Victory Park Expands Legal Credit Leadership with Maleson Promotion

By John Freund |

Victory Park Capital (VPC), a global alternative asset manager specializing in private credit, has announced that Justin Maleson will expand his role to Managing Director, co-heading the firm’s legal credit investment strategy. The promotion underscores VPC’s ongoing investment in its legal finance capabilities and follows Maleson’s initial appointment in 2024 as Assistant General Counsel.

An announcement from Victory Park Capital details Maleson’s new responsibilities, which include sourcing, analyzing, and managing investments across legal assets, while maintaining oversight of the firm’s legal operations. He joins Chad Clamage in co-leading the strategy, working alongside team members Hugo Lestiboudois and Andrew Pascal, under the continued oversight of VPC CEO and founder Richard Levy.

Maleson brings a strong background in litigation finance and commercial law to the position. Before joining VPC, he served as a director at Longford Capital, where he specialized in originating and managing litigation funding transactions. His earlier tenure as a litigation partner at Jenner & Block further deepened his exposure to complex legal matters, equipping him with the expertise needed to navigate the nuanced legal credit space.

VPC’s legal credit team emphasizes an asset-backed lending model, prioritizing downside protection and predictable income streams. The firm aims to capitalize on inefficiencies within the legal funding market by leveraging its internal expertise and broad network of relationships. With Maleson’s appointment, VPC signals its intent to further scale its legal credit strategy, positioning itself as a key player in the evolving legal finance sector.

Maleson’s elevation comes at a time of increasing sophistication in litigation finance, where experienced legal minds are playing a pivotal role in portfolio construction and risk management. As VPC bolsters its leadership, the move may foreshadow further institutionalization of legal asset investing and heightened competition in a maturing market segment.