Burford Capital, the leading global finance and asset management firm focused on law, is doubling down on its commitment to addressing the lack of diversity in the leadership of commercial litigation and arbitration. In announcing the third phase of its award-winning Equity Project, Burford is earmarking an additional $150 million to fund commercial matters with a female or racially diverse lawyer in a leadership role, bringing its cumulative funds earmarked for this initiative to more than $300 million.

• Given its leadership in funding global commercial litigation and arbitration, Burford has a front row seat to the continued lack of diverse lawyers in leadership roles and saw a need to address this gap.
• Burford first launched The Equity Project in 2018 with $50 million earmarked to financing cases led by female lawyers.
• In 2021, Burford launched phase two of The Equity Project, earmarking a further $100 million and extending the initiative to also finance racially diverse lawyers; further, it added a promise to contribute a share of proceeds from successfully resolved matters to organizations that promote diversity in the business of law.
• With cumulative Equity Project commitments of almost $170 million, Burford is launching phase three with an additional $150 million earmarked.
• As in phase two, if phase three Equity Project-funded matters resolve successfully and generate expected returns, Burford will contribute on its client’s behalf a portion of its profits to organizations that promote lawyer development for female and racially diverse lawyers.

Aviva Will, President of Burford Capital, leads Burford’s Equity Project initiative. 

Ms. Will states: “The Equity Project reflects Burford’s values and our pragmatism—our belief not only that it is right to use our capital and our industry leadership to help close the diversity gap in the leadership of commercial disputes, but also that there is a tangible benefit to our clients and the business of law to doing so.”

She continues: “The whole Burford team is proud of the impact we have made. Clients appreciate The Equity Project as a tool to promote leadership from diverse backgrounds, and we hear directly from those who’ve been funded that it makes a difference in their careers. From when I first started practicing law to today, the business of law has made progress, but the legal profession remains slow to adapt, and in providing economic levers for change, we are doing our part to expedite still more.”

Equity Project Mission and Impact

The Equity Project enables female and racially diverse lawyers to compete for leadership roles in significant matters with attractive terms in place. It incentivizes firms to promote talent from diverse backgrounds and demonstrates innovation to clients. Businesses can use Equity Project capital to encourage the firms that represent them to appoint female and racially diverse lawyers on their matters, and as a reason to talk to their firms about diverse representation and origination credit.

Equity Project matters funded to date include contract disputes, antitrust, federal statutory, IP/patent and treaty and commercial arbitration matters, with female and racially diverse litigators in leadership roles (first or second chair), and with clients represented by women- or minority-owned firms. Clients include large corporations and large litigation boutiques.

We have to date provided financing for 19 different matters from the Equity Project, some of which were multi-case portfolios. The average amount of capital committed per matter was $8.9 million, indicating that these are large, complex litigation and arbitration matters. The matters qualified for inclusion in the Equity Project on the following basis:

• 14 with first or second chair female lawyers
• 3 with first or second chair racially diverse lawyers
• 2 with both a female and racially diverse lawyer as lead lawyers

Equity Project Champions

Burford has also expanded its cadre of Equity Project Champions, corporate and law firm leaders who will support and spread awareness of the initiative. The expanded list, which is currently in formation, includes the following returning and new* Champions:

APAC

• *Angela Ee, Asean and Singapore Turnaround and Restructuring Strategy Leader, EY-Parthenon
• *Blossom Hing, Director, Dispute Resolution and Corporate Restructuring & Workouts, Drew and Napier
• Brenda Horrigan, International Arbitrator

Europe

• *Conway Blake, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton
• Amy Frey, Partner, King & Spalding
• Sophie Nappert, International Arbitrator; Co-Founder, ArbTech
• *Akima Paul Lambert, Partner, Hogan Lovells
• Sue Prevezer QC, International Arbitrator, Mediator and Consultant, Brick Court Chambers
• Noradèle Radjai, Partner, Lalive
• *Lauma Skruzmane, Founding and Co-Managing Partner, Butler Reichline Skruzmane
• Daniel Winterfeldt MBE QC (Hon), Founder & Chair Interlaw Diversity Forum, Managing Director & General Counsel – EMEA And Asia, Jefferies

US

• Elizabeth Brannen, Managing Partner & Chair of Intellectual Property Litigation, Stris & Maher
• Mylan Denerstein, Co-Chair, Public Policy Practice Group, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• *Ryan Dunigan, Senior Division Counsel, Corning, Incorporated
• The Honorable Katherine B. Forrest, Partner, Paul Weiss
• Faith Gay, Founding Partner, Selendy & Gay
• Maria Ginzburg, Partner, Selendy & Gay
• Megan E. Jones, Partner, Hausfeld
• Carolyn Lamm, Partner, White & Case
• Tara Lee, Partner, White & Case
• Roberta D. Liebenberg, Senior Partner, Fine, Kaplan & Black
• Veta T. Richardson, President & CEO, Association of Corporate Counsel
• Adriana Riviere-Badell, Partner, Kobre & Kim
• *Lauren M. Weinstein, Partner, MoloLamken

About Burford Capital

Burford Capital is the leading global finance and asset management firm focused on law. Its businesses include litigation finance and risk management, asset recovery and a wide range of legal finance and advisory activities. Burford is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BUR) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: BUR), and it works with companies and law firms around the world from its offices in New York, London, Chicago, Washington, DC, Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.

For more information, please visit www.burfordcapital.com.

Our guest today is Sam Dolce, an Attorney and Vice President at Milestone. Milestone is a settlement administrator that offers efficiency and transparency to law firms and their clients post-settlement. Sam discusses the settlement process in mass torts, what challenges law firms and funders face during settlement, how Milestone can help alleviate those headaches, and what trends are on the horizon in the mass torts sector.

Nakiki SE announces that the two so-called “mask lawsuits” (lawsuits against the federal government for payment related to supply contracts for COVID masks), which are currently in the review phase or at the stage of a Letter of Intent, will not be financed after thorough and detailed examination.

Litigation funders such as Nakiki SE assess claims to be financed through both internal and external legal and economic evaluations. A decision not to finance a claim is not necessarily an indicator of the claim’s chances of success but may also be due to a limited risk appetite or other factors.

In principle, Nakiki SE remains interested in financing so-called mask lawsuits. Affected mask suppliers are still encouraged to contact Nakiki. Each case will be reviewed individually and promptly.

Houzhu Capital is delighted to invite you to join the International Conference on Third-party Funding Industry held in Beijing on 25 Sep, as part of the China Arbitration Week events. You may register here for in-person participation or online stream.

The Conference is the first international conference on TPF in China, which invites representatives from domestic and foreign arbitration centers, leading TPF institutions, well-known scholars, and practitioners from law firms and corporations.

Highlights of the event include:

• Opening speech and welcome from Mr. Jin Huang, Chairman of Beijing International Dispute Resolution Center, and Mr. Jianlong Yu, Vice-president of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
• Keynote speech on Third-party Funding in England and Wales: Learning from the Past, and Looking to the Future, by professor Rachael Patricia Mulheron from Queen Mary University.
• Panel I: Third-party Funding in Arbitration Rules, moderated by Ms. Yulin Fu, Professor of Peking University Law School, joined by representatives from arbitration centers.
• Panel II: International and Domestic Practice of Third-party Funding, moderated by Mr. Ning Fei, Senior Consultant of Houzhu Capital, joined by representatives from TPF institutions.
• Panel III: International and Domestic Use of Third-party Funding, moderated by Mr. Jialu Wang, Co-funder of Houzhu Capital, joined by representatives from domestic and international corporations.

A cocktail reception will be provided after the Conference for networking and further communication.

About Houzhu

Houzhu Capital is a leading TPF institution in China with domestic and international business footprints and network. Founded by top legal professionals and as a pioneer in China, Houzhu has been committed to exploring the regulatory development and business practice of TPF services in China, supporting clients in domestic and international dispute resolution and asset recovery. You can find more about Houzhu here[Author2] 

Moneypenny and VoiceNation, leading virtual receptionist and phone answering providers, have appointed a new US Head of Marketing, Kris Altiere.  Kris joins with over 20 years experience in marketing, growing revenue and improving brand awareness for companies of all sizes from start ups to rebrands and merging companies, which she has done time after time with great success.

Kris has a proven track record in establishing the brands she works with as the trusted leaders in their area, with a well defined identity.  She is an award-winning integrated marketing communications strategist, specializing in connecting vision with innovative digital communication solutions to drive sales, build brand image, and secure customer loyalty. Her role at Moneypenny and VoiceNation will be to drive US awareness and further the growth and recognition of the US brands though strategic marketing strategies, further solidifying the value proposition and expanding into new markets.  

Richard Culberson, CEO at Moneypenny North Amercia comments: “We are delighted to welcome Kris to our award-winning company and are excited about the fantastic experience she will bring to Moneypenny and VoiceNation. She’s an excellent addition to our rapidly growing team and her experience and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our brands in the US.” 

Kris comments: “I am really looking forward to joining the diverse and global team and utilizing my extensive background and expertise in Healthcare and Legal to further expand those areas within the US, while growing the existing client sectors.  I am excited be part of the Moneypenny and VoiceNation award winning culture and to help lead and grow our marketing team, as well as work with the amazing UK marketing teams, to help the business with our ambitious growth plans.”

About our market-leading brands

Moneypenny and VoiceNation are America’s leading virtual receptionist & phone answering providers offering 24/7 communication solutions. 

Collectively, Moneypenny and VoiceNation employ over 1,000 people handling millions of calls, chats and bespoke tech solutions for thousands of businesses of all shapes and sizes from sole traders right up to multinational corporations.