Trending Now
Announcements Commercial

Acuity Law Signs £10m Litigation Funding Deal with Augusta

October 17, 2019

Acuity Law Signs £10m Litigation Funding Deal with Augusta

Leading Welsh commercial law firm Acuity Law has agreed a £10 million litigation funding facility with the UK’s largest litigation funder by volume, Augusta Ventures.

From its headquarters in Cardiff and offices in Swansea and London, Acuity provides legal advice to a portfolio of national and international business clients. The preferred arrangement offers Acuity’s clients competitive funding rates, with a time-efficient process in place to ensure effective decision making. Under the terms of the facility, Augusta will fund the full cost of pursuing a claim, including legal fees and expert witness costs and other agreed disbursements. This arrangement provides Acuity’s clients with ‘non-recourse’ funding, ensuring claimants are not called on to repay in the event their claim is unsuccessful. Augusta only recovers its investment from any sums received from defendants.

Hugh Hitchcock, Head of Litigation at Acuity, said: “Acuity has established its reputation as a leading UK litigation law firm. We’ve been delighted to serve an increasing number of clients over recent years, and this deal with Augusta further differentiates our offering to clients in Wales and across the UK. We are now able to help clients pursue meritorious cases that otherwise may not have proceeded due to financial constraints.”

Robert Hanna, Managing Director at Augusta, said: “We are delighted to be working with Wales’s leading litigation firm, Acuity Law, on providing funding for their clients’ disputes. Augusta has built a market-leading reputation for our team and processes, which enable access to justice. We are looking forward to offering these to Acuity’s clients to help them secure the funding they need to pursue meritorious claims.”

Acuity Law has recently been recognised in the Wales Legal Awards as both the Commercial Litigation Team of The Year and the overall Legal Team Of The Year. Acuity Law is a new model law company that is enjoying rapid and successful growth. With a team of over 100 lawyers and expanding, Acuity last year advised on over 100 UK-based transactions with an aggregate value of over £1.5 billion. Acuity Law specialises in high value and complex commercial disputes.

Augusta has recently announced a further $115m fundraising from a multi-billion-dollar US-based investment manager. This follows a £150m fundraising from a global investment fund in 2018, to finance business growth and investment in funding cases.

Augusta has also recently announced hirings into its senior team with the arrival of Proskauer Director Polly Bahl as Chief Operating Officer, FTI Consulting Managing Director Leor Franks as Chief Marketing Officer and Ardonagh Group’s Chief Counsel Frances Coats as General Counsel. These additions reflect Augusta’s ongoing growth and increasing client demand for dispute and litigation funding.

About Acuity:

  • Founded in 1999, Acuity Law is a commercial law firm headquartered in Cardiff and with offices in Swansea and London.
  • Acuity is an award-winning firm whose most recent accolades include Law Firm of the Year (Wales) at the Legal 500 Awards 2019 and Litigation Team and Legal Team of the Year at the Wales Dealmakers Awards 2019.
  • Acuity are specialists in providing corporate (M&A’, disposals, joint venture and partnering arrangements, management buy-outs and management buy-ins, private equity and venture capital investments and business transfers and restructuring), commercial, litigation, real estate, employment and tech advice.
  • Acuity’s corporate and commercial and TMT teams were ranked tier 1 in this year’s edition of the Legal 500.

About Augusta:

– Established in 2013, Augusta is the largest litigation and dispute funding institution in the UK by # case. Augusta’s scale enables us to make decisions in market-leading timeframes and fund cases of any size. – Augusta is organised into a series of specialist practice groups: Arbitration, Class Action, Competition, Consumer, Intellectual Property and Litigation, and sectors including Financial Services and Construction & Energy. – By the end of H12019, Augusta had funded 213 claims with a market-leading win ratio of over 80%. – Augusta has offices in London, Sydney, Melbourne and Toronto.

Secure Your Funding Below
Secure Your Funding Sidebar

Announcements

View All
Announcements Commercial

Harris Pogust Joins Bryant Park Capital as Senior Advisor

By John Freund |

Bryant Park Capital (“BPC”) a leading middle market investment bank and market leader in the litigation finance sector, is pleased to announce that Harris Pogust has joined the firm as a Senior Advisor.  Harris (Mr. Pogust) is one of the best known and prominent attorneys in the mass tort and class action fields, he was the founding partner and Chairman of Pogust Goodhead worldwide until early 2024 and is currently working with Trial Lawyers for a Better Tomorrow, a charity Harris founded, to help children reach their educational potential all over the world.  Harris’ life work has been to deliver justice for those who have been damaged or injured through the negligence or bad faith of others.

“We are thrilled to have Harris as part of our team.  His knowledge, experience and relationships in the litigation finance sector are of great value to Bryant Park and our clients.  As the litigation finance world becomes more competitive, complex and challenging, having an expert like Harris on our team is invaluable,” said Joel Magerman, Managing Partner of Bryant Park.

Harris’ efforts, in conjunction with Bryant Park will focus on assisting law firms and funders in developing strategies to more efficiently fund their operations and cases and assist them in establishing the right relationships for future growth.  Harris commented, “I have been fortunate to have been a practicing attorney and partner in law firms for over 35 years focused on building and growing a worldwide book of business in the class action/mass tort field.  That required significant capital and throughout my career I have raised over $1 billion for my firms.  I have learned what works and what doesn’t.  I have seen both the risks and rewards in this industry.  I look forward to being able to work with law firms and funders to assist them in putting the right strategies in place with Bryant Park and bringing capital and liquidity to help them grow and flourish.”

About Bryant Park Capital

Bryant Park Capital is an investment bank providing capital raising, M&A and corporate finance advisory services to emerging growth and middle market public and private companies. BPC has deep expertise and a diversified, well-founded breadth of experience in a number of sectors, including specialty finance & financial services. BPC has raised various forms of credit, growth equity, and assisted in mergers and acquisitions for its clients. Our professionals have completed more than 400 assignments representing an aggregate transaction value of over $30 billion.

For more information about Bryant Park Capital, please visit www.bryantparkcapital.com.

Announcements Commercial

Therium Capital Advisors Launched to Provide Litigation Finance Advisory Services

By John Freund |

Therium Capital Advisors (TCA) announced today the launch of its independent advisory services business dedicated to helping claimants, law firms and corporates to source, structure and secure litigation finance. TCA offers end-to-end support including funding strategy, investor engagement, financial modelling, deal structuring, ongoing case management and secondary market advisory. Based in London, the firm is advising on deals in the UK, continental Europe and Australia.

Therium Capital Advisors is led by litigation funding pioneer Neil Purslow and co-founded by investment banker Harry Stockdale. Neil has over 16 years of experience in litigation finance, raising capital and investing worldwide across all forms of litigation finance from single cases funding through to portfolio, corporate and law firm funding arrangements. Harry was previously head of UK M&A at investment bank Haitong with twenty years of experience in investment banking, advising law firms and litigation funders on complex financial transactions.  

TCA is the first advisory firm to provide clients with advisory services that are backed by a deep understanding of litigation finance investing coupled with the financial and transactional expertise of investment banking. Therium Capital Advisors bridges the gap between claimants, law firms and corporates on the one side and existing and new sources of institutional capital on the other.  Through the combined expertise of its founders, TCA opens up the investor universe that is available to clients and drives quality in the investment propositions, efficiency in the funding process and competition in the funding market.

TCA exclusively advises claimants, law firms and corporates, ensuring that it remains conflict-free.  The firm advises across the full range of legal assets including single case and portfolio funding, law firm financing, financing options for corporates and existing portfolios of legal assets.   

Neil Purslow, co-founder and Managing Partner of Therium Capital Advisors said: “We are at a pivotal moment in the development of the legal finance industry, given the relative paucity of traditional funding capital available.  However, we are seeing a shift towards new categories of investors in legal assets who want exposure to this uncorrelated asset class. By leveraging our unrivalled experience across both litigation funding and investment banking, we are assisting our clients to navigate this landscape with confidence, speed and understanding, and we provide them with access to a broader set of funding options and to meet their funding needs efficiently and cost effectively.”

Harry Stockdale, co-founder and Partner of Therium Capital Advisors said: “We are bringing an investment banking mind set to the litigation funding world which has developed largely without the benefit of specialist advisors. This professionalisation of the funding process will make the sector more efficient and accessible to a wider audience of investors in addition to the traditional litigation funders. We are already seeing the benefit of this, for both clients and investors alike, and is part of the maturing of litigation finance as an asset class.”

Therium Capital Advisors provides the following services to claimants, law firms and corporates:

  • Deal Preparation: Preparing funding propositions to be investment-ready.
  • Capital Sourcing: Identifying and engaging with suitable funders and capital providers from across the spectrum of legal assets investors.
  • Financial Modelling and Analysis: Providing robust financial modelling and scenario analysis to evaluate deal structures and model returns.
  • Investor Materials and Outreach: Advising on the preparation of investor-facing materials and documentation, inserting rigour and discipline to ensure efficiency in the funding process.
  • Co-Funding: Advising on the identification and engagement of potential co-investors to optimise risk-sharing and capital raising.
  • Negotiating Funding Terms: Leading negotiations with investors to secure terms which balance commercial viability with the interests of the funded party.
  • Deal Structuring and Documentation: Advising on deal structures and overseeing the drafting and execution of all relevant documentation.
  • Post-Funding Case Management: Providing ongoing monitoring, reporting, and servicing support post-funding on behalf of the claimant, to manage risks and support positive case outcomes.
  • Secondary Market Advisory: Advising on secondary transactions of existing legal assets including sub-funding arrangements and exits.

More information can be found at: www.therium.com/theriumcapitaladvisors

Announcements Commercial

Gryphon Law Launches as Contingency-Fee Firm for International Disputes

By John Freund |

A new player is entering the international disputes arena—this time with a distinct twist on legal funding. Gryphon Law has officially launched as the first law firm globally to specialize in contingency-fee representation for cross-border disputes.

Gryphon Law aims to offer an alternative to third-party litigation funding by shouldering the cost of legal claims in return for a share of the outcome. Based in New York and with plans to expand into London and Miami, the firm targets clients who might otherwise turn to traditional funders, offering instead to partner with them directly through performance-based fee structures.

The firm was founded by John Templeman, a seasoned international disputes attorney qualified in New York, England & Wales, and Australia, who previously held roles at leading global law firms. Templeman has assembled a multilingual team capable of handling the full lifecycle of international litigation and arbitration in English, Spanish, and French—from initiation to enforcement. Co-founding the venture is Daura Dutour, an 18-year disputes veteran with experience in the U.S., France, and Haiti, supported by three additional associates.

Templeman stated: "I believe there's a real opportunity in the market to provide clients with an appealing alternative to third party funding, particularly in the sub-US$30 million value range below where many of the funders operate. I've been fortunate to assemble a world-class team of disputes lawyers who share this vision – we're looking forward to contributing to this rapidly evolving field.”

Gryphon Law’s business model suggests a more vertically integrated approach to litigation finance—embedding the funder role within the law firm itself. For clients, this could mean greater alignment of interests, fewer intermediaries, and possibly reduced costs when compared to traditional third-party funding arrangements.