A Manhattan federal judge has handed Argentina a three-day reprieve in the long-running Petersen / Eton Park saga, pausing enforcement of a $16.1 billion judgment that would force the hand-over of the country’s 51 percent stake in YPF.

Reuters notes that Judge Loretta Preska pushed the turnover deadline to July 17 so Buenos Aires can seek emergency relief from the Second Circuit, while chastising the sovereign for what she called “continued delay and circumvention.” The minority shareholders—represented by Burford Capital—stand to capture as much as 73 percent of the proceeds if Argentina ultimately pays, a prospect the Milei administration says could destabilize an economy already battling 200 percent inflation and dwindling reserves.

Preska’s order reinforces New York courts’ willingness to deploy drastic remedies against recalcitrant sovereigns, signalling that litigation financiers can indeed convert paper judgments into hard assets—even politically sensitive ones like a controlling stake in a national oil champion.

For the wider industry, the decision spotlights the enforcement stage as a fertile (and risky) arena for capital deployment. Success here could spur more sovereign-related funding, but also sharpen calls for transparency around funder returns when public assets are at stake.

Fieldfisher has recruited litigation-funding specialist Verity Jackson-Grant to the newly created post of Head of Commercial Pricing, underscoring the firm’s intent to capitalize on sophisticated fee and finance structures in the wake of last year’s PACCAR fallout. Jackson-Grant, best known for translating third-party capital into user-friendly products for corporate clients, will sit within the firm’s European finance team and manage a multi-office pricing unit.

An update on LinkedIn confirms her appointment, noting that she will “drive and shape” Fieldfisher’s pricing strategy across the continent. The role’s blueprint calls for rolling out “creative pricing models” that enhance client profitability and embed alternative fee arrangements into disputes workflows.

Jackson-Grant brings a rare blend of funding fluency and law-firm know-how. A former director at TheJudge, she brokered litigation-finance and ATE insurance packages before moving in-house to develop alternative pricing frameworks for major UK and US practices.

The insurance industry’s long-simmering feud with third-party litigation finance boiled over on Monday.

In an article originally posted in the Wall Street Journal and covered in Insurance Business America, Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg and Marsh McLennan counterpart John Doyle deliver a joint broadside against what they dub the “litigation investment industry.” The duo argue that multi-billion-dollar capital inflows from hedge funds and foreign investors are fueling a 52% year-on-year jump in “nuclear verdicts,” pushing the average blockbuster award to US $51 million.

The duo's ire is heightened by Congress’ failure to preserve a 40.8% surtax on funder income that was stripped from President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” during reconciliation. Without tax parity, they warn, funders can pay 0 % capital-gains rates while plaintiffs shoulder income-tax burdens of up to 37%.

The executives cite data showing 135 verdicts above US $10 million in 2024 and estimate tort costs at US $529 billion—figures they link directly to opaque funding arrangements. Chubb, they reveal, is reviewing counterparties to sever any ties with litigation financiers, while Marsh has already refused to place insurance that facilitates funding.

Funders are already responding to the pair's remarks. William Marra, Director at Certum Group, wrote on LinkedIn: "Funders and their allies need to prepare for the policy debates ahead, because misguided proposals to kill funding may continue." Marra then highlighted proactive education, rapid response, success stories and coalition building as four strategies that funders should consider moving forward.

Burford Capital has once again reminded the debt markets that litigation finance is anything but niche.

An article in PR Newswire reports that the New York- and London-listed funder upsized its private offering of senior notes from an initial $400 million to $500 million after books closed multiple times oversubscribed. The eight-year paper priced at 7.5 %, Burford’s tightest spread over Treasuries to date, and will refinance $180 million in 6.125 % notes maturing this August while extending the weighted-average life of the balance sheet to 2033.

According to Burford CEO Christopher Bogart: "We're very pleased with the results of this latest debt offering, which added a half-billion dollars in capital, building on our momentum and strengthening our position to achieve our growth targets."

For investors, the transaction offers two signals: first, that the firm’s cash-realisation cycle—driven by landmark wins such as Petersen—continues to convert headline judgments into distributable cash; and second, that fixed-income desks are increasingly comfortable underwriting the risk profile of litigation finance even in a high-rate environment.

Omni Bridgeway has stepped in to bankroll a newly-filed Federal Court class action alleging that certain 2010-14 Toyota Corolla models suffer from a manufacturing defect that causes factory “040 white” paint to flake under UV exposure. Lead plaintiff Mary Elizabeth Fabian seeks compensation for diminished vehicle value and associated distress.

An article in Lawyerly says William Roberts Lawyers lodged the claim late Wednesday in Sydney, with Omni providing “no-win-no-pay” financing and an adverse-costs indemnity. The suit covers consumers who bought affected sedans or hatchbacks after 1 January 2011.

Plaintiffs allege Toyota breached Australia’s Consumer Law guarantee of acceptable quality, citing a 2022 Toyota bulletin that acknowledged adhesive degradation between primer and base metal. Class members face no out-of-pocket exposure; Omni recoups costs and takes a court-approved commission only from any recovery. Registration is open nationwide, and Omni’s portal details eligibility tests based on VIN build plates and paint codes.

The case exemplifies funders’ deepening appetite for high-volume consumer-product claims. Success here could spur similar “cosmetic defect” suits—particularly in Australia’s active class-action market—further diversifying funders’ portfolios beyond financial-services and securities disputes.

Argentina’s legal team has fired its latest salvo in the long-running, Burford-backed YPF litigation, lodging two emergency briefs with U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska that seek to halt her 30 June order compelling the country to transfer its 51 percent stake in the oil major to a BNY Mellon escrow within 14 days.

An article in Infobae reports that the Treasury Solicitor’s Office argues immediate compliance would violate Argentina’s hydrocarbon-sovereignty statute, trigger cross-default clauses, and irreversibly strip state control of a company central to the Vaca Muerta shale programme. The briefs also insist the $16.1 billion judgment—won by Petersen Energía and Eton Park after Burford Capital financed their claims—presents “novel questions” on sovereign immunity and extraterritorial asset execution, meriting a stay pending Second Circuit review.

Burford’s creditors countered earlier this week, citing Governor Axel Kicillof’s public remarks as proof of obstruction. Argentina retorted that Kicillof holds no federal brief, seeking to neutralise that leverage while underscoring the U.S. Justice Department’s past reservations about enforcing foreign-sovereign turnovers. Judge Preska is expected to rule on the stay motion within days; absent relief, the share transfer clock runs out on 15 July.

A stay would underscore enforcement risk, even after a blockbuster merits win. Funders will watch Preska's decision, and capital-providers hunting sovereign-risk cases may calibrate pricing accordingly.

Specialty managing general underwriter Palisade Insurance Partners has taken a significant step to scale its fast-growing contingent-legal-risk book, striking a delegated-authority agreement with Accredited Specialty Insurance Company. Including the Accredited capacity, Palisade has up to $35 million in coverage for legal risk insurance products. The New York-headquartered MGU can now offer larger wraps for judgment preservation, adverse-appeal and similar exposures—coverages that corporates, private-equity sponsors and law firms increasingly use to de-risk litigation and unlock financing.

An article in Business Insurance reports that the deal provides Palisade's clients with the comfort of carrier balance-sheet strength while allowing the insurer to expand its program portfolio. The capacity tops up Palisade’s existing relationships and arrives at a time when several traditional markets have retrenched from contingent legal risk after absorbing a spate of outsized verdicts, leaving many complex disputes under-served.

Palisade leadership said demand for robust limits has “never been stronger,” driven by M&A transactions that hinge on successful appeals, fund-level financings that need portfolio hedges, and secondary trading of mature judgments. Writing on LinkedIn, Palisade President John McNally stated: "Accredited's partnership expands Palisade's ability to transfer litigation exposures and help facilitate transactional and financing outcomes for its corporate, law firm, investment manager and M&A clients."

The new facility aligns the MGU’s maximum line with those of higher-profile peers and could see Palisade participate in single-event placements that have historically defaulted to the London market. For Accredited, the move diversifies its program roster and positions the insurer to capture premium in a niche with attractive economics—provided underwriting discipline holds.

China’s ballooning stock of non-performing loans (NPLs) has long frustrated mainland banks and asset-management companies eager to claw back value from defaulted borrowers scattered across multiple jurisdictions. In its newly released 2025 Report on International Asset Recovery for PRC Financial Creditors, Omni Bridgeway distills the lessons of a growing body of cross-border enforcement actions and sets out a playbook for creditors determined to follow the money.

A paper published by Omni Bridgeway explains that the three-chapter study surveys today’s enforcement landscape, highlights “funded recovery” strategies for domestic institutions, and walks readers through case studies in which Chinese lenders have traced assets into offshore havens and employed Mareva-style injunctions, arbitral award assignments, and insolvency proceedings to compel payment.

The paper highlights how litigation finance can transform the economics of pursuing stubborn debtors. By underwriting investigative costs, securing local counsel, and bridging timing gaps between enforcement wins and cash realisation, funders such as Omni Bridgeway can turn an otherwise write-off-prone claim into a profitable workout.

The report also charts structural shifts reshaping the market: Beijing’s pressure on state banks to clean balance sheets, private-equity appetite for “special situations” paper, and widening acceptance of third-party funding in arbitration hubs from Hong Kong to Singapore. A series of recent matters—ranging from a Guangzhou lender’s successful freeze of UK real estate to a provincial AMC’s recovery of Latin-American mining assets—illustrate the potency of coordinated tracing, injunctive relief, and securitised claims sales.

For the legal-funding bar, the study underscores a powerful, still-underexploited pipeline: hundreds of billions of renminbi in distressed credit looking for capital-efficient enforcement solutions. Whether PRC banks will embrace external funders at scale—and how regulators will view foreign-backed recovery campaigns—remain pivotal questions for 2025 and beyond.