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Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: Burke McDavid, Co-Chair of the Investment Management & Private Funds Industry Group, Winstead PC

By John Freund and 4 others |

Burke McDavid is a seasoned attorney with a comprehensive understanding of investment management, compliance and corporate law. With more than two decades of experience, he brings a wealth of experience in both private practice as well as overseeing legal and compliance matters as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for a registered investment adviser managing funds focused on litigation funding.

Company Name and Description: Winstead is a leading Texas-based law firm with national practices serving clients across the country. We focus on exceeding our clients’ expectations by providing innovative solutions to their business and legal opportunities and challenges. We work as a trusted counsel to public and private companies, governments, individuals, universities, and public institutions.

Our business, transactions, and litigation practices serve key industries, including real estate, financial services, investment management and private funds, higher education and P3, airlines, healthcare and life sciences, sports business, and wealth management.

Company Website:  Winstead.com

Founded: 1973

Headquarters: Dallas, Texas

Areas of Focus: Investment Management and Private Funds

Member Quote: “Having assisted with the launch and operations of a litigation funding focused manager in 2013, and later having served as general counsel and chief compliance officer for that manager, I've seen the growth of the industry and enjoyed assisting with the unique challenges that funders and funding recipients face in structuring and working through funding relationships."

Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: Patrick Yoder, CEO, Osage Capital

By John Freund and 4 others |

Osage Capital was founded by Patrick Yoder, an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of healthcare and legal services. Patrick has led startups and publicly traded companies in both industries, including being the Chief Revenue Officer of one of the largest publicly traded Healthcare Management Companies in Texas and most recently, the President and Owner of Lone Star Attorney Service. Driven by a commitment to continuous improvement, Patrick established Osage Capital to address a critical need in personal injury cases: ensuring that victims receive timely access to healthcare while maintaining the strength of their legal claims.

Company Name and Description: At Osage Capital, our mission is to accelerate cash flow and growth for legal and medical professionals, providing the financial resources necessary to focus on achieving justice and favorable settlements. Our tailored solutions, including medical funding and pre-litigation financing, enable attorneys and healthcare providers to optimize their services for better outcomes.

By accelerating cash flow, Osage Capital ensures that clients can focus on their recovery without financial pressure, attorneys can concentrate on their legal strategy, free from concerns about case expenses, and healthcare providers receive prompt compensation, allowing them to maintain their cash flow and continue offering high-quality care without waiting for settlements to be finalized.

Company Website:  www.osagecapital.com

Founded:  2024

Headquarters: Houston, TX

Areas of Focus: Pre Litigation Finance and Medical Funding

Member Quote: “Our goal is to ensure that every party involved in a personal injury case is empowered to focus on their strengths. We streamline the financial aspect so that clients can heal, attorneys can pursue justice, and healthcare providers can deliver the care that’s needed—without delays."

Announcements Consumer

Legal-Bay Pre-Settlement Funding Announces Additional Capital for Wrongful Termination Cases Due to Sexual Harassment and Sexual Abuse

Legal-Bay LLC, The Lawsuit Settlement Funding Company, reports today that they have set aside a large portion of their pre-settlement cash advance funding capital specifically for plaintiffs of sexual harassment cases. Legal-Bay has vast experience with unlawful termination and wrongful unemployment lawsuits related to sexual harassment and retaliation, as well as racial, gender, or age-related discrimination, whether in the office or elsewhere. Based on recent court case filings, the premier funding firm anticipates even more wrongful termination lawsuit filings to come.

Legal-Bay delivers financial assistance to people who've recently found themselves unlawfully unemployed, providing cash advances to plaintiffs while their cases are tied up in litigation. Sadly, sexual harassment is all too common in corporate workspaces, and if a person on the receiving end of it loses their job because of it, loss of pay or benefits can add financial stress to an already emotional situation. Lawsuit loans can offer a bit of monetary help during a trying time.

Chris Janish, CEO, commented, "While it's disconcerting to see an increase in sexual harassment filings, it's heartening to know that people aren't hesitating to file suit against their offenders. Many unlawfully terminated victims are unable to get new jobs right away, and sometimes a cash advance from Legal-Bay is the only way to pay the bills."

If you're an attorney or plaintiff in an ongoing wrongful termination, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, retaliation, racial, age, or gender discrimination lawsuit and require an immediate cash advance lawsuit loan from your anticipated lawsuit settlement, please visit our website HERE or call 877.571.0405.

Legal-Bay is an advocate for victims involved in sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse cases. Their settlement loan programs offer immediate cash in advance of a plaintiff's anticipated monetary award for many other types of sex crime cases such as clergy or Catholic Church sexual abuse cases, prison rape cases, police brutality, and more. The non-recourse lawsuit loans also help victims involved in unlawful termination and wrongful unemployment lawsuits, personal injury lawsuits, car and truck accidents, commercial litigation, verdict or judgment on appeal cases, medical malpractice, and more.

Legal-Bay's programs are non-recourse lawsuit cash advances—sometimes referred to as loans for lawsuits or loans on settlement—and are risk-free, as the money doesn't need to be repaid should the recipient lose their case. Therefore, the lawsuit loans aren't really a loan, but rather a cash advance.

Legal-Bay has some of the quickest turnaround in the industry, normally getting plaintiffs cash-in-hand within 48-hours of filing an application. If you require money now, please visit the company's website HERE or call 877.571.0405 where skilled agents are standing by. 

Announcements Commercial Regulatory Issues

International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) Statement in Opposition to Forced Disclosure Legislation

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

Today, the International Legal Finance Association is announcing its opposition to the Litigation Transparency Act of 2025, which would force public disclosure of all financing in civil cases in federal courts. 

The sweeping nature of the bill would harm small-scale inventors, startups, small and family-owned businesses, and individual Americans who partner with legal funders because they otherwise would not have the resources to assert their rights, protect their property, and defend their livelihoods.  This bill would force disclosure of the sensitive details of their legal strategies and is a blatant attempt to further tilt the legal system in favor of the biggest corporate players resulting in a dramatic reduction in civil litigation against them.  This bill would also partially nullify liability for America’s largest tech and insurance companies. 

Paul Kong, Executive Director, said: 

“The effect of the legislation is devastating to the economic health of our nation and the Rule of Law. The bill would harm small businesses that have been wronged by large corporations and are seeking redress in court. There should never be a financial barrier to entry to civil litigation, and if this law is enacted, that is exactly what will happen. Only the litigants with enough money to support large professional legal teams for months of litigation will have a chance to protect their intellectual property from Big Tech’s infringement or to force Big Insurance to pay rightful claims. It is no surprise that the US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest insurance industry groups, and Big Tech have expressed support for the bill, as they all stand to benefit from a system like that. They are eager to preserve their ability to wield massive legal teams and resources to bully those they have harmed. 

This bill is a harmful solution in search of a problem. Courts already have the authority to order disclosure of financing when relevant and are in the best position to determine the relevancy of any financing agreement to the merits of the litigation. In the overwhelming majority of cases, courts have held that the details of legal finance agreements are not relevant to the underlying merits of cases and should be protected rather than turned over to the opposition in litigation. 

The bill’s corporate champions are trying to scare up support by invoking the specter of malign foreign actors exploiting our legal system but they cannot cite any actual examples of this threat materializing, with good reason. As civil litigation experts have noted repeatedly, existing law, court rules, and ethical guidelines provide litigants ample ability to maintain control of their cases and ensure attorneys don’t breach their duties of loyalty and confidentiality. Courts and corporate defendants themselves are also equipped to guard against the release of sensitive information, including through the issuance of a protective order. Lawmakers should oppose this effort and instead stand with small businesses to defend our free enterprise system. 

ILFA opposes the Litigation Transparency Act and will seek to educate the Members of the Judiciary Committee and the House of Representatives on the dangers of this legislation and the true motives of its proponents.” 

About the International Legal Finance Association 

The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) represents the global commercial legal finance community, and its mission is to engage, educate and influence legislative, regulatory and judicial landscapes as the voice of the commercial legal finance industry. It is the only global association of commercial legal finance companies and is an independent, non-profit trade association promoting the highest standards of operation and service for the commercial legal finance sector. ILFA has local chapter representation around the world. 

For more information, visit www.ILFA.com and find us on LinkedIn and X.

Commercial Legal Innovation

Howden Insurance Launches Low-Value Litigation Funding and ATE Facility

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

Although the funded cases that tend to attract the most attention are those that are valued in the tens or hundreds of millions of pounds, there is clearly still an appetite for legal funding aimed at smaller cases that require less capital and faster turnaround times.

In a post on LinkedIn, Mark Sands, Head of Insolvency at Apex Litigation Finance, announced the launch of a new low-value litigation funding and ATE facility: Virtus. The new facility is being launched by Howden Insurance Brokers, with Apex and Ignite Speciality Risk acting as exclusive providers of litigation funding and ATE insurance, respectively.

The Virtus facility is designed to provide law firms and their clients with quick access to legal funding up to £750,000, along with ATE insurance cover up to £100,000. Sands explains that this new product is aimed at clients looking to unlock small to medium size commercial claims. In order to meet these requirements, the Virtus facility offers guaranteed turnaround times including funding sign-off within 10 working days and an ATE insurance offer within 5 working days.

Sands directs any parties looking for more information or to start an application for funding to contact: Katie.Armstrong@HowdenGroup.com 

Commercial People Moves

Heirloom Fair Legal Appoints Georgios Tzoumakas as Director for Family Office Division

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

As LFJ reported last month, Heirloom Fair Legal began the year by announcing that it is acquiring Hayes Connor Solicitors and launching its own law firm, HFL Law. Since then, the legal finance company has clearly indicated its plans for growth with the appointment of one senior team member amid a wider recruitment drive.

In a post on LinkedIn, Heirloom Fair Legal announced the appointment of Georgios Tzoumakas as Director of Capital & Investor Relations in the company’s Family Office division. The company explained that Tzoumakas will have oversight of all the division’s operations and be responsible for “developing tailored strategies to support the capital raising process, while fostering long-term relationships built on trust and excellence.”

In addition to the appointment of Tzoumakas, Heirloom has also posted several hiring notices in the weeks following the announcement of its major acquisition. These include London-based opportunities for a Controller and COFA, and a Senior Legal Finance Analyst, as well as a vacant Paralegal position in Manchester.

Commercial People Moves

Burford Capital Announces Series of Promotions

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

In a series of posts across LinkedIn yesterday, Burford Capital announced a range of promotions and appointments across its operations in the U.S. and UK, with promotions handed out in the funder’s Chicago, New York and London offices.

The full list of announced promotions are as follows:

  • Chris Freeman, promoted from Director to Managing Director (Chicago)
  • Alyx Pattison, promoted from Senior Vice President to Director (Chicago)
  • Hannah Howlett, promoted from Vice President to Senior Vice President (London)
  • David Helfenbein, promoted from Vice President, Public Relations to Senior Vice President, Public Relations (New York)
  • Rupert Black, promoted from Senior Associate to Vice President (London)
  • Avik Chattaraj, promoted from Patent Associate to Vice President (Chicago)
  • Sam Bendit, promoted from Associate to Vice President (London)
  • Suzie Butters, promoted from Marketing Manager to Senior Marketing Manager (London)
  • Xingchao (Sean) Zhou, promoted from Senior Financial Accountant to Manager, Financial Accounting (New York)
  • Larry Tao, promoted from Quantitative Investment Analyst to Quantitative Investment Associate (London)
  • Orcun A., promoted from Treasury Analyst to Senior Treasury Analyst (New York)
  • Olivia Otti, promoted from Compliance Paralegal to Senior Compliance Paralegal (London)

Commercial Fundraising

FORIS AG Plans For Future Growth with €50 Million Fund

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

As LFJ reported earlier this year, a litigation funder based in Germany is looking to raise the profile of domestic litigation funding in the country and across continental Europe with ambitious plans to raise a €50 million fund.

An article in Handelsblatt provides new insights into the activities of FORIS AG, a German litigation funder headquartered in Bonn, providing an overview of its current case involvements and the funder’s plans for future growth. Up until now, FORIS has largely focused its investments on the mid-cap sector, targeting its financing across 100 cases which are valued at around €100,000 or more. The article explains that to date this has seen FORIS invest €10 million and seen an average success rate of 73%, with an expected multiple of three for its return on investment.

However, with plans to increase the scope and size of cases it can invest in, FORIS is now hoping to raise €50 million by the end of 2025 for its FORIS Centris Litigation Financing Fund I. Harald Steinbichler, head of the consulting firm Axessum, which is responsible for marketing the new fund, says that this will be FORIS’ “showcase project”. The funder plans to use this new capital to finance around 25 cases from across Europe, targeting disputes with much higher values to enable even greater returns.

Case Developments Commercial

NJ Court Disqualifies Defendants Counsel over Non-Party Litigation Funding Conflict of Interest

By Harry Moran and 4 others |

One of the key issues raised around third-party litigation funding for patent disputes, is the level of involvement and control a funder may exert on proceedings, and the potential for conflicts of interest to arise from this involvement.

A blog post from Faegre Drinker highlights a patent dispute case in the District of New Jersey, where a magistrate judge disqualified two law firms from representing defendants due to the defense being funded by a non-party who had an interest in the patent. 

In the case of Harish v. Arbit et al, US Magistrate Judge André M Espinosa had allowed the plaintiff to raise a motion to disqualify counsel for the defendants, with the plaintiff alleging that there was a conflict of interest with the lawyers representing both the defendants and Lincoln Diagnostics, Inc, the company that the defendants had sold and assigned the patent rights to. The plaintiff therefore argued that the defense counsel had broken the state’s Rule of Professional Conduct 1.8(f).

Applying the six-part test governed by the New Jersey Supreme Court’s opinion in In re State Grand Jury Investigation, 200 N.J. 481 (2009), the court found that there was evidence that Lincoln “is directing, regulating, and interfering with Defense Counsel’s professional judgment in its representation of Defendants.” Furthermore, the court found that there was an attorney-client relationship between the defendants’ counsel and Lincoln as a non-party, with a representative from Lincoln also participating in the settlement conference.

Despite objections from the defendants over the timeliness of having to bring in new counsel at this stage of the case, the ruling definitively stated that “Defendants and Lincoln, not Plaintiff, are responsible for creating the conflict of interest.” The decision concludes that “the severity of the conflict here is greater than the potential for hardship or prejudice to Defendants and warrants disqualification of Defense Counsel”

The full written decision handed down by the magistrate judge can be read here.