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Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: Vicky Antzoulatos, Joint Head of Class Actions, Shine Lawyers

Based in Sydney, Australia, Vicky Antzoulatos is the Joint Head of Class Actions at Shine Lawyers. Vicky has spent her career championing the rights of those adversely affected by corporate malfeasance across Australia. She has navigated the complexities of the niche area of class action dispute resolution for over 25 years, taking on some of the world's most formidable corporate entities, including international and Australian banking institutions, shipping conglomerates, and prominent fast-food chains.

Vicky has been involved in the conduct of class actions in Australia since 1999 and her deep knowledge in this area spans a broad range of class actions including employment, consumer, human rights, shareholder and financial services. Through her expertise and unwavering commitment to the pursuit of truth and accountability, Vicky continues to redefine the boundaries of legal excellence in class actions, making an impact on the lives of countless individuals across Australia.

Company Name and Description: Shine Lawyers is an Australian law firm specialising in personal injury compensation and class actions. As one of Australia’s leading class actions firms, Shine Lawyers passionately fights to obtain justice for those who have been wronged and suffered loss at the hands of institutions or corporations.  

Company Website: https://www.shine.com.au/ 

Year Founded: 1976

Headquarters: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Area of Focus: Class Actions

Member Quote: Third party litigation funding has allowed class actions to be brought that would never have seen the light of day. It is a critical aspect of modern-day litigation assisting to recalibrate the power imbalance between individuals seeking redress from large corporations or government.

Case Developments Commercial

No Talks or Negotiations Between Argentina and Burford over $16B Award

By Harry Moran |

The legal fight between Burford Capital and Argentina over the $16.1 billion award in the case brought by investors of the YPF oil and gas company has continued to demonstrate challenges when it comes to judgment enforcement and collection. Although there have been few development since Argentina filed its appeal against the US court’s ruling, a new insight with a key figure at the litigation funder has revealed that the Argentine government is not showing any signs of compromise. 

An article in the Buenos Aires Times provides new insights into the ongoing struggle for Burford Capital to collect on the $16.1 billion award in the YPF case, as Gerardo Mato, who was hired by the funder to act as a mediator with Argentina, has said that there have been no meetings with representatives from the Argentine government. The article provides a behind-the-scenes view of the fight to recover the award, citing quotes from an interview with Mato conducted at Bloomberg’s offices in Buenos Aires.

In the interview, Mato explained that whilst they had “contacted the authorities at the Economy Ministry and legal authorities”, there had been no form of reciprocal communication from Argentina. Mato stated that “there have been no talks for now with the government”, and as of this moment, “no type of negotiation has been established yet.” 

As for the funder’s strategy moving forward with efforts to open a productive dialogue with the Argentine government, Mato argued that “Burford isn’t in any rush on this issue” and that “the best tool that we have is patience.” Whilst all parties await the Appeals Court’s final ruling on Argentina’s appeal against the award, Mato argued that negotiating prior that decision would “benefit the government”. Instead, Mato suggested that if the court provides a favourable ruling to Burford, then Argentina will “have to pay the totality of the suit.” 

Commercial Regulatory Issues

Bill Introduced in Minnesota Legislature to Increase Restrictions on Litigation Funding

By Harry Moran |

If previous years saw an increase in the amount of discussion and debate around the regulation of litigation funding in the United States, then 2025 has already proven to be the year when many states are moving forward with plans to introduce new rules governing the use of third-party funding.

An article on Red Lake Nation News covers the introduction of new legislation in the Minnesota legislature, with bills brought forward in both the House and Senate aiming to impose new restrictions on third-party litigation funding in the state. The Consumers in Crisis Protection Act, which was introduced in the Senate as SF 2929 and in the House as HF 2677, seeks to introduce new rules governing the use of both consumer and commercial litigation funding agreements in Minnesota court cases.

The current draft of the legislation, authored by Senator Judy Seeberger and Representative Bernie Perryman, includes a wide range of rules governing both the composition of funding agreements and the activities of funders within the state. Similar in content to legislation introduced in other states, the bill mandates the disclosure of litigation funding agreements to all parties involved in the lawsuit, and requires that litigation funders register with the state. 

The bill also tackles the issue of foreign states’ involvement in domestic litigation, as it prohibits litigation funders from “entering into a commercial litigation financing agreement with a foreign entity of concern or a foreign country or person of concern.” The legislation would also require funders to provide the state with annual report which would include: the number of lawsuits funded by the company and a summary of the amounts of funding provided.

Senator Seeberger provided the following comment on the bill: “As legislators, we are acutely aware of the challenges our constituents face, including the cost of insurance. This bill will help shine a light on the funding sources that are driving huge awards in civil lawsuits, something we all pay end up paying for in higher insurance premiums.”

The current version of the Consumers in Crisis Protection Act can be read on the Minnesota Legislature’s website.

Commercial People Moves

Patrick Dempsey Joins Certum Group as Director of Commercial Litigation Strategy

By Harry Moran |

Certum Group, the first and only company in America providing both litigation finance and insurance solutions for companies facing the uncertainty of litigation, has added Patrick Dempsey as Director of Commercial Litigation Strategy.  Mr. Dempsey will oversee all facets of Certum’s commercial litigation business, including originating, structuring, and monitoring single-case financing products and portfolio solutions for law firms, corporates, and other litigants.  Mr. Dempsey will also help build out Certum’s consulting services for companies that are looking to invest in or value legal assets but may not have the requisite underwriting expertise. 

A veteran of the legal finance industry, Mr. Dempsey joins Certum from Burford Capital, where he served as a director responsible for originating new investments with law firms and corporates alike.  Prior to Burford, Mr. Dempsey served as the Chief Investment Officer of Therium Capital Management’s U.S. operations.  In private practice, Mr. Dempsey was a litigator at Hogan Lovells and Proskauer, where he regularly took cases through to trial and arbitral hearings across a broad number of industries.

“We are thrilled to have Patrick join our team,” said Joel Fineberg, Certum’s founder and managing director. “His extensive experience across multiple industries and complex commercial areas, along with his ability to build strong relationships with counterparties, will be a very valuable asset as we continue to innovate in the ever-evolving world of litigation funding.” 

“I am excited to join the fantastic team at Certum,” said Mr. Dempsey. “I believe the opportunity is substantial. With its full suite of funding solutions and insurance products, Certum is extremely well-positioned for this next phase of growth within the industry.  I’m looking forward to helping more clients figure out how Certum can help them achieve their litigation and business goals.”

Certum Group created the first and only litigation risk transfer platform that combines insurance, premium finance, and litigation funding to provide tailored solutions for companies, litigants, and law firms. Founded more than 10 years ago, the team is comprised of former litigators, judicial clerks, actuaries, and financial professionals who design risk transfer and funding solutions to meet legal, business, and financial objectives.

Mr. Dempsey earned his J.D. from Tulane University Law School and his B.S. from the University of New Orleans.

About Certum Group

Certum Group provides bespoke solutions for companies facing the uncertainty of litigation. We are the leader in providing comprehensive alternative litigation strategies, including class action settlement insurance, litigation buyout insurance, judgment preservation insurance, adverse judgment insurance, contingency fee insurance, capital protection insurance, litigation funding, and claim monetization. Our team of experienced former litigators, insurance professionals, and risk mitigation specialists helps companies remove the financial and operational volatility arising out of litigation by transferring the outcome risk. Learn more at www.certumgroup.com.

Commercial

AALF Welcomes RESOLVE Forensic as Newest Associate Member

By Harry Moran |

The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia (AALF) announced it has welcomed RESOLVE Forensic as its newest Associate Member. With the addition of this new member, AALF now boasts a total of 21 Associate Members in addition to its eight Funder Members.

The announcement was made in a post on LinkedIn. RESOLVE Forensic is a specialist forensic accounting, business valuation and dispute consulting firm, providing their expertise to support law firms and clients in resolving commercial disputes. The company works across a wide range of sectors including construction and real estate, energy and climate, financial services, and retail. The company was founded in 2024 and is based out of Sydney, but provides services to clients across Australia and the Asia Pacific.

Hugo Loneragan, managing principal at RESOLVE Forensic, provided the following comment on the announcement

“Many thanks Pip Murphy and The Association of Litigation Funders of Australia, we are excited to join the association and are looking forward to working with other talented litigation and dispute professionals in what is shaping to be a busy year ahead!”

More information about RESOLVE Forensic can be found on its website. More details about AALF and its members can be found here.

Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: David Kerstein, Founder & Managing Director, Arcadia Finance

An early adopter of litigation finance with ten years of experience as a funding professional, David Kerstein uses his depth of knowledge and experience to serve as a trusted and strategic partner and advisor to lawyers and clients seeking to manage litigation risk and spend.

Dave is a sought-after speaker and recognized leader in litigation finance who has been named among Lawdragon’s “Global 100 Leaders in Legal Finance” and selected by Who’s Who Legal as a “Thought Leader in Third Party Funding.” Prior to founding Arcadia Finance in June of 2024 with fellow Managing Directors Ronit Cohen and Joshua Libling, he served as Validity Finance’s Managing Director and Senior Investment Officer.

In addition to co-leading Validity’s origination and structuring teams, he helped to guide Validity’s strategic growth into new and expanded markets and avenues for investment. Prior to joining Validity, Dave was a senior investment manager at Bentham IMF, now Omni Bridgeway. Before entering the world of litigation finance, Dave spent fifteen years as a trial lawyer handling complex commercial disputes at Gibson Dunn. With his deep experience as a litigator, Dave understands the landscape attorneys and their clients face when pursuing important claims and is uniquely positioned to help them navigate it. As a long-suffering Jets, Mets, Knicks and Islanders fan, Dave is keenly aware that facing adversity can build character. He knows that every litigation has obstacles that must be overcome but that those obstacles can be used as stepping-stones that guide us to achieving our goals.

Company Name and Description: At Arcadia Finance, we go beyond traditional litigation finance to provide frictionless funding, empowering clients and partners to achieve their legal goals through customized financial solutions and unparalleled support. Our seamless collaboration, clear deal terms, and broad mandate empower clients to navigate challenges, make informed decisions, and secure capital - fast. Led by industry veterans with over $400 million invested across 80+ deals, Arcadia Finance offers adaptable solutions for all–from litigation boutiques to AmLaw firms and corporations. Arcadia Finance's mission is to invest in meritorious litigation, and with backing from multiple and flexible capital providers, we find new ways to help clients and law firms finance, monetize, and share risk on their legal assets. Our solutions include everything from traditional single-case funding and law firms portfolios, to purchasing companies or patent portfolios whose primary value is litigation. At every stage from pre-litigation to appeal and enforcement, Arcadia has the experience, flexibility, and capital to assist.

Company Website: arcadiafin.com

Year Founded: 2024

Headquarters: New York, New York

Area of Focus: With a focus on U.S.-based commercial and patent litigation and domestic and international arbitration, Arcadia Finance is open to the full spectrum of litigation-based assets, from mass torts to law firm lending to patent acquisition, including cross-border and offshore matters. We consider cases in all federal and state courts, as well domestic and international arbitrations.    

Member Quote: "Over my 25+ years of work in the legal and litigation finance industries, I've seen firsthand how meritorious claims can falter due to financial constraints. That's why I'm passionate about litigation funding – it ensures that the strength of a case, not the size of a wallet, determines its outcome."

Commercial Regulatory Issues

Barings Law Managing Director Explains Significance of Motor Finance Claim Ruling

By Harry Moran |

The High Court’s ruling in Angel & Ors v Black Horse Ltd earlier this month, which permitted the motor finance claims to proceed on a single claim form, not only signaled a major victory for claimants seeking compensation, but also may prove to have a lasting impact on the future of these group claims.

In an interview with The Law Society Gazette, Craig Cooper, managing director of Barings Law, discusses the recent High Court ruling on the future of the motor finance commission claims. In the interview, Cooper explains the significance of this ruling not only for the motor finance claims but also for future group proceedings, and discusses the challenges raised by working on a claim that has such a high public profile and attracts a lot of media scrutiny.

On the High Court ruling, Cooper highlights that “by allowing these cases to proceed as eight omnibus actions, rather than requiring individual filings, the court has acknowledged the need for efficiency and fairness in addressing large-scale consumer grievances.” Cooper explains that this collective approach will allow consumers to seek justice “without the burden of navigating the legal process alone”, and as a milestone for future claims will underline “the courts’ willingness to streamline complex cases where common legal and factual issues exist.”

Given the high levels of media interest in the motor finance claims, Cooper recognises that Barings Law’s approach has had to “ensure clarity and accuracy in all communications, emphasising the significance of the ruling while maintaining a balanced and professional stance.” Acknowledging the importance of the wider conversation around these claims, Cooper says that “transparency and accessibility have been key in shaping the public narrative and reinforcing the broader implications of the judgment.”

Case Developments Commercial

Augusta Ventures Funding German Pesticide Cartel Class Action

By Harry Moran |

Whilst funded class actions are most commonly seen in prominent legal funding markets such as the UK, US and Australia, we are increasingly seen large scale group claims being brought in European jurisdictions with the support of litigation funders.

An article in Handelsblatt covers one of the largest class action lawsuits brought in Europe, as Unilegion has filed a lawsuit in the Dortmund Regional Court seeking €200 million in damages over allegations of price fixing in the sale of pesticide by a cartel of agricultural wholesalers in Germany. The claim being brought against the ‘pesticide cartel’ is representing  over 3,2000 farmers, and follows a 2020 investigation by the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) which imposed €157 million in fines on eight wholesalers. 

The agricultural companies found to have been involved in this price-fixing between 1998 and March 2015 are: AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG , Hanover/Münster AGRO Agrargroßhandel GmbH & Co. KG, BayWa AG, BSL Betriebsmittel Service Logistik GmbH & Co. KG, Getreide AG, Raiffeisen Waren GmbH, Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale Rhein-Main eG, and ZG Raiffeisen eG.

The lawsuit is being supported by legal representation from the Hamburg office of Taylor Wessing, whilst third-party funding has been secured from Augusta Ventures. A similar class action lawsuit representing German farmers is being brought by Bäuerliche Geschädigtengemeinschaft (BGG), with funding in that case being provided by Transatlantis.

More information about the Pesticide Cartel case can be found on the Unilegion website.

Commercial Deals

JurisTrade Litigation Asset Marketplace Launches Phase 1 Rollout with over $70 Million in Litigation Funding Opportunities

By Harry Moran |

The JurisTrade Platform soft-launched last week with over $70 million in litigation funding opportunities in single cases, funding mass tort dockets and law firm refinancing.

The JurisTrade Litigation Asset Marketplace (“JurisTrade’) provides a transparent electronic platform which facilitates both primary funding opportunities in litigation finance, as well secondary sales of such interests.

The potential market for litigation finance ranges in the several $100s billions, of which only $30 billion is currently funded. JurisTrade is designed to unlock this large unmet demand through its liquid and transparent marketplace.

The litigation finance ecosystem has been clamoring for years for this type of market solution. Similarly to many other major asset classes, JurisTrade was built on a foundation of industry standardization, transparency and process streamlining, which eliminates uncertainty and, thus, attracts liquidity for litigation finance, a bona fide uncorrelated asset class.

Clients of JurisTrade include institutions, law firms, litigation finance funds, and family offices.

JurisTrade’s Phase I rollout includes nine diverse investment opportunities including a high-profile single case, a judgment monetization case, a law firm debt refinancing case, and several mass action-related cases. An OTC service desk is being offered to assist our clients in negotiating terms and structuring all manners of trades and vehicles, among other things. Other market features, technology, and analytics will be offered soon.

Typhon Capital Management, Larry Hite, and two notable family offices are sponsors of JurisTrade, and JurisTrade will be leveraging their collective expertise and experience. Typhon, in particular, provides trading operations on JurisTrade. Clients can use JurisTrade to directly engage in claims trading, such as bankruptcy and mass tort, then leverage Typhon to invest in or create custom passive funds holding any manner of litigation interests or loans, and actively managed funds, such as thematic claim trading, market making, or activist litigations. Typhon can also structure insurance wrappers around litigation-focused investments.

The senior management team of JurisTrade includes James Koutoulas as CEO, Kevin J.P. O’Hara as Chairman, Shawn Hartpence as Chief Commercial Officer, and Andrew Barroway and Larry Hite as strategic limited partners.

"Mr. Koutoulas is a seasoned hedge fund manager and attorney with a unique skillset encompassing derivatives-trading, complex bankruptcy and class action litigation, and software development making him the perfect CEO to bring the emerging asset class of litigation assets to a wider audience. He and I share similar philosophies on structuring vehicles with asymmetric, positively-skewed, and uncorrelated return profiles which will be much appreciated in the litigation investing world," said Larry Hite, Founder of Hite Capital.

"Similarly, Mr. O'Hara's previous C-suite roles at NYSE, CBOT, Archipelago and Gulf Finance House, and as an attorney at the SEC and his financial markets development in Eastern Europe, provide JurisTrade with one of the most accomplished exchange experts to steer our growth."

"Larry Hite is a pioneer of two assets classes – commodity trading and litigation assets. Larry is an original 'Market Wizard' and we are humbled to have him as a founding partner and advisor to JurisTrade," said James Koutoulas, CEO of JurisTrade.

Please sign up to view our initial inventory and be kept up to date at www.juristrade.com.

About Larry Hite:

Larry Hite is a legendary commodities trader and one of the founders of systematic trading. Mr. Hite founded Mint Capital, which was the largest CTA in the world by AUM in 1990. He has since been an active investor in litigation assets where he has invested in thousands of cases.

About Typhon Capital Management:

Typhon Capital Management, led by CEO James Koutoulas, is a multi-strategy hedge fund and platform specializing in tactical futures, quantitative, and cryptocurrency trading. Typhon creates custom portfolios and structured products for institutional investors and wealth management firms and is headquartered in Miami Beach. Mr. Koutoulas also was lead customer counsel in the MF Global bankruptcy, leading the recovery of all $6.7 billion in customer assets.

About Kevin J.P. O'Hara:

Kevin J. P. O’Hara has a decades-long career in business, law and regulation, entrepreneurship, technology, international, investing, and post-graduate teaching. Mr. O’Hara is an active angel investor with several successful exits, including sales to LinkedIn, PayPal, and IQVIA. He has a plethora of private and public company board and governance experience.

He was previously: (1) a C-suite member at CBOT, NYSE, Archipelago, and Gulf Finance House (Bahrain); (2) an attorney at the SEC, DOJ, and a major Chicago law firm (products liability and mass tort defense)(3) a law and business school lecturer at Northwestern University and Loyola University; and (4) an in-county financial and economic advisor in Eastern Europe in 1990s.

About Shawn Hartpence:

Shawn Hartpence has over a decade of experience advising law firms, litigation fund managers and institutional investors on capital formation and litigation investment. Areas of expertise include mass tort portfolio funding, secondary mass tort portfolio trading, single-case funding, portfolio funding, single-case monetization, and capital introduction for niche litigation strategies. Mr. Hartpence is a partner at Ocasio Mass Tort Law, a DC Law Firm and a Board Member of a cutting-edge AI Litigation assessment company.

About Andrew Barroway:

Andrew Barroway is a distinguished litigator and hedge fund manager with a proven track record of success in the investment world. He previously built Barroway, Topaz, Kessler, Meltzer, & Check, LLP, the second largest securities class action firm in the country, and helped lead the $3.2 billion settlement of Tyco Ltd. International. At Merion Investment Management, Mr. Barroway invented the appraisal rights arbitrage trade where he managed $1.2B in the near-riskless strategy, annualizing 13.25% net for 12 years. Mr. Barroway is a strategic limited partner in JurisTrade and the senior portfolio manager of our upcoming Cerus Litigation Fund.