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Validity Finance Launches New Summer Fellowship for Law Students of Diverse Backgrounds

May 15, 2019

Validity Finance Launches New Summer Fellowship for Law Students of Diverse Backgrounds

NEW YORK, May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Leading litigation funder Validity Finance has launched a new Equal Access Fellowship, providing a paid summer fellowship to first-year law students of diverse backgrounds. For 2019, the company has selected two distinguished first-year students to spend the summer in Validity’s New York office, with an option to split their time working for a pro bono organization of their choice. The two inaugural Equal Access Fellows are New York University School of Law JD candidate Amanda Gonzalez Burtonand Georgetown University Law Center JD candidate Jarrett Lewis. “We created the Equal Access Fellowship to help law students from underrepresented backgrounds obtain meaningful experience early in their careers, and begin building the professional networks that will promote their growth,” said Validity founder and CEO Ralph Sutton. While at Validity, fellows will learn about the burgeoning litigation finance sector and its increasing role in leveling the playing field in commercial disputes. Fellows will interact with perhaps dozens of law firms and help review an equal number of prospective cases seeking funding, performing legal research, participating in client meetings, and drafting articles for publication in the process. After an initial five weeks, each fellow will have the option of either staying with Validity or spending the balance of the summer with a public service organization of his or her choice. In either case, Validity Finance will pay the fellows’ salaries for the entire 10-week program. While both Ms. Burton and Mr. Lewis will be based in New York, future fellows will serve in Validity’s offices in Chicagoand Houston as the program expands in size and scope. Validity expects to maintain an ongoing mentoring relationship with the fellows as they advance through law school and enter the legal profession.  Validity hopes participants will emerge from the fellowship with an excellent grounding in the economics of law firms and litigation risk. The 2019 fellows were chosen through a selective process that included interviews and a review of academic performance.  Candidates were also required to submit essays addressing factors that influenced their decision to train as lawyers. “We want to help lead the litigation funding sector in giving back to the legal community,” said Julia Gewolb, Validity’s Head of Underwriting. “Our new Equal Access Fellowship is an opportunity to invest in the development of our profession by helping promote promising, diverse young lawyers.  Fellows will gain not just a solid introduction to the business of law, but an opportunity to meet with dozens of commercial litigation practitioners, helping these young law students build a key professional network early in their legal careers.” “We are delighted to welcome Amanda Burton and Jarrett Lewis as our inaugural Equal Access Fellows to New York,” Mr. Sutton said. “We look forward to working with these talented law students and are pleased to be offering them an introduction to the world of litigation finance, where stellar lawyers are seeing enormous career opportunities.” About the Fellows Validity’s inaugural Equal Access Fellows are: Amanda Gonzalez Burton is a 1L at New York University School of Law, where she is a recipient of the Norma Z. Paige Scholarship and is a Dean’s Scholar and Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Fellow. She is a board member of the Latinx Law Students Association. She previously worked for Teach for America and as a Sponsor for Educational Opportunity Law Fellows at Clifford Chance. Ms. Burton obtained an MBA from Rutgers Business School in 2014 and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences from Florida State University in 2009, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Jarrett Lewis, a 1L student at Georgetown Law School, is a member of the Black Law Students Association and the Rise Fellows Program, a pre-orientation program for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in the legal profession. He previously interned with Foy & Seplowitz LLC and The Legal Aid Society, and attended the Shook Scholars Institute at Shook Hardy Bacon. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in criminology from Pennsylvania State University in 2018. About Validity Validity is a commercial litigation finance company that provides businesses, law firms and individuals with non-recourse financing for a wide variety of commercial disputes. Founded in 2018 with $250 million in financing, Validity believes that capital and legal expertise combine to help solve legal problems on behalf of clients. Validity’s’ mission is to make a meaningful difference for clients by focusing on fairness, ethics, innovation, and clarity. Validity is committed to developing a diverse and inclusive work force in its own offices and within the legal profession as a whole. Validity embraces a broad definition of diversity, encompassing race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and LGBTQ background, as well as individuals from underrepresented social, economic, religious, and geographic backgrounds. Equal access to justice; equal access to opportunity— this is what Validity believes is fair and right. CONTACT: Allan Ripp, 212-262-7477, aripp@rippmedia.com SOURCE Validity Finance

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Court of Appeal Shuts Down BHP’s Attempt to Overturn Mariana Liability Judgment

By John Freund |

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales today refused BHP’s application for permission to appeal the High Court’s landmark liability judgment in the Mariana disaster litigation.

The High Court found BHP responsible for the 2015 collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, concluding that BHP is liable for the disaster under both the Brazilian Civil and Environmental law.

The Court of Appeal heard BHP’s application for permission to appeal the decision on 12 March after BHP was refused permission to appeal by the High Court in January.  BHP asked the court for permission to contest the findings that it was a polluter, and that it had knowledge of the risks associated with the dam before the collapse. The mining company also challenged the finding that all claimants brought their claims in time.

The Court of Appeal’s refusal marks a further victory for the hundreds of thousands of Brazilian victims who have spent over ten years pursuing justice, and a major setback for BHP. The High Court’s liability judgment remains in force, and BHP has exhausted the ordinary routes by which it could seek to overturn it.

In today’s ruling, the court concluded that BHP’s proposed grounds of appeal have no real prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason for the appeal to be heard.  The decision means that the parties will proceed to the trial of Stage 2 of the proceedings, which will determine issues of causation, loss and damages. The trial evidence is to be heard from April 2027 to December 2027, with closing submissions listed for March 2028.

Lord Justice Fraser wrote in the decision: “I do not accept that any of the grounds relating to BHP’s liability for the dam collapse are reasonably arguable. I do not consider that there is any foundation for the different complaints that the trial judge failed to engage with BHP’s case."

Jonathan Wheeler, lead partner for the Mariana litigation at Pogust Goodhead, said: “The Court of Appeal has now joined the High Court in finding that BHP’s grounds of appeal have no real prospect of success - an emphatic and unambiguous outcome. BHP remains liable for the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history, and it will not be given another bite at the cherry.”

“Our clients have waited more than a decade for justice while BHP pursued every procedural avenue to avoid accountability; those avenues are now closed. We are focused on securing the compensation that hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have been owed for far too long.”

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Loopa Finance Wins at the Lexology European Awards 2026 in the Litigation / General Counsel Category

By John Freund |

Loopa Finance has been recognized as the winner in the Litigation – General Counsel Team category at the Lexology European Awards 2026, one of the leading recognitions in the international legal sector.

The award was received in London by Ignacio Delgado, General Counsel Europe at the firm, on behalf of Loopa Finance’s European team, composed of Ignacio Delgado (General Counsel Europe), Marina Gouveia (Investment Manager), Fernando Pérez Lozada (Senior Investment Manager), and Fernando Folgueiro (Managing Partner).

The Lexology European Awards recognize outstanding legal teams across the region through a methodology that combines independent research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and thousands of nominations supported by clients and industry peers, as well as the annual research conducted by the Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) and Client Choice.

The selection process is based on performance evaluations related to effective communication, commercial understanding, technical expertise, strategic management, and team strength, and is supported by a global community of more than 940,000 subscribers.

This recognition positions Loopa Finance’s European team among the leading practitioners in complex litigation and strategic legal management in Europe.

“This award reflects the strength of a team operating across two continents that understands litigation not only from a legal perspective, but also through financial analysis and risk management. It is the result of collective work and a rigorous, strategic approach to structuring complex disputes,” said Delgado during the ceremony.

More Than an Award: Validation of a Model

The award comes at a time of consolidation for the firm. Loopa Finance recently completed its rebranding process, evolving from Qanlex to Loopa Finance and reinforcing an identity aligned with its growth in continental Europe and its broader international positioning.

It also coincides with the closing of Fund III, raising €65 million to finance complex litigation and arbitration across Europe and Latin America, significantly expanding the firm’s investment capacity and supporting the continued growth of its platform in the region.

This milestone adds to the firm’s recent rankings, including its Band 1 classification by Chambers & Partners in Latin America and Europe, its recognition as “Highly Recommended” by Leaders League across multiple jurisdictions, and the inclusion of members of its team among the Thought Leaders in Third-Party Funding by the Lexology Index. Together, these results confirm the strength of Loopa Finance’s model and the consolidation of its team as a reference in the strategic financing of disputes at an international level.

About Loopa Finance

Loopa Finance is an investment fund specializing in the financing and monetization of litigation and arbitration across continental Europe and Latin America, supported by a technology-driven model and rigorous risk analysis. The firm provides capital to cover legal costs or monetize ongoing claims through non-recourse structures, where the recovery of the investment depends exclusively on the successful outcome of the case, assuming the financial risk of the dispute while fully aligning its interests with those of clients and law firms.

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Pravati Capital Partners with SEI to Bring Litigation Finance to Registered Investment Advisors

By John Freund |

One of the oldest litigation finance firms in the United States has announced a strategic partnership aimed at expanding mainstream investor access to the asset class.

As reported by Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, Scottsdale-based Pravati Capital has partnered with financial services firm SEI to provide registered investment advisors with structured access to litigation finance as an alternative investment option. The collaboration will leverage SEI's distribution platform to make litigation funding opportunities available within advisor portfolios.

The partnership reflects growing institutional interest in litigation finance as an alternative asset class. Historically, litigation funding has been difficult for mainstream financial advisors to access on behalf of their clients, with the market largely dominated by specialized funds and institutional investors. The Pravati-SEI arrangement seeks to bridge that gap by creating a more accessible pathway for advisors seeking diversification through non-correlated investments.

The announcement underscores a broader industry shift as litigation finance continues to move from a niche strategy toward greater acceptance within traditional wealth management channels. As the global litigation funding market grows — projected to reach over $25 billion in 2026 — partnerships like this one may signal a new phase of institutional adoption.