Augusta, the UK’s largest funder of litigation by case volume today announces the appointment of Clara Segurola as Lead Economist.
Clara is a financial economist with more than 15 years of professional experience and joins from NERA Economic Consulting, where she was an Associate Director specialising in the assessment and quantification of damages in international disputes.
Recognised as one of the Most Highly Regarded Expert Witness Future Leaders in Who’s Who Legal Arbitration, Clara has a strong track record of valuations and economic quantum assessments in investment and commercial disputes across various industry sectors.
Louis Young, Managing Director of Augusta, said “Clara and her skill set are a key addition to our recently incepted Investment Valuation and Structuring team, which is headed up by Matt Pitchers, who joined us from Deloitte late last year. The IVS team is our response to demands from our law firm clients who are looking for deeper expertise and support from their funder. The services of this team are available at no cost to our law firm partners, and it makes the task of structuring finance solutions for their claims a much more collaborative process.”
Clara Segurola, Lead Economist at Augusta, said “I am very pleased to be joining Augusta Ventures. I’ve been impressed with Augusta’s reputation in the market and their forward-thinking approach to innovation. I look forward to making a significant impact and to helping law firms and their clients gain access to funding in the most efficient way”.
About Augusta
– Established in 2013, Augusta is the largest litigation and dispute funding institution in the UK by # cases.
– Augusta has offices in London, Sydney, Melbourne and Toronto.
The UK's Legal industry generated revenues of £2.35bn in May 2020, 12% down on May last year. May 2020 was the lowest-earning month in four years, according to Office of National Statistics data released on 14th July.
May is traditionally the weakest month of the year for the Legal profession, with April being one of the most lucrative. Industry revenues fell 29% between April 2020 and May 2020, with April having remained relatively robust as the impact of lockdown had likely not yet fully washed through.
In comparison, the overall Services sector (including Legal) which had been harder hit and was at its lowest level in a decade, grew by 2% in May, similarly to the UK’s overall economy which increased by 1.8% month on month.
Louis Young, MD at Augusta said: “May’s revenue data demonstrates the significant negative impact the pandemic has had on the UK’s Legal industry. But as such data reflects work that would have commenced before the crisis, which is in line with how law firms operate, the true final impact is likely to be greater. As the wider economy begins to show signs of recovery, many law firms continue to look for options to control costs and strengthen their balance sheets with the expectation that they are not yet out of the woods”.
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About the ONS Data
CHICAGO, Illinois, July 1, 2020 -- Delta Capital Partners Management LLC, a global private equity firm specializing in litigation and legal finance, today announced the hiring of a Chief Marketing Officer and a Marketing Associate.
Kim Fine has been hired as Chief Marketing Officer to closely work with Delta’s Chief Executive Officer and senior management to advance Delta’s strategic marketing and business development objectives and further develop Delta’s brand.
Prior to joining Delta, Ms. Fine was a Managing Director at ALM, formerly American Lawyer Media, where she worked closely with the editors for The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel magazine, IP Law & Business, and Law Firm Inc. to create events to grow their brands and materially enhance their editorial content. In addition, Ms. Fine has served as a Project Manager at Marsh FINPRO and was a Senior Vice President of Executive Liability for Beecher Carlson. Prior to her role at Marsh, Ms. Fine co-founded Fulcrum Information Services, which produced over 300 conferences annually.
Christopher DeLise, Delta's Founder, CEO and CO-CIO, stated, “We are excited to have someone with Kim’s experience and enthusiasm joining Delta’s team. Her background in marketing within the legal and financial services industries will enhance Delta’s efforts to market to prospective claimants, law firms, professional service providers, and other end-users of litigation and legal finance.”
Additionally, Megan Bradley has been hired as a Marketing Associate to assist Ms. Fine and other members of Delta’s marketing department. Ms. Bradley is a recent graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she was a President’s Award Program Honors Scholar and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies.
Mses. Fine and Bradley join Delta as the firm continues to its global expansion efforts to meet the evolving needs of law firms, businesses, private investment funds, and individual claimants.
About Delta
Delta Capital Partners Management LLC is a US-based, global private equity firm specializing in litigation and legal finance, judgment or award enforcement, and/or asset or collateral recovery. Delta works with law firms and other professional service firms, private investment funds, businesses and individual claimants involved in litigation, arbitration or recoveries across the globe.
CHICAGO, Illinois, June 30, 2020 -- Forteam Investments Ltd., an investment company controlled by the American private equity firm Delta Capital Partners Management LLC (“Delta”), which is seeking approximately USD $86 million from Mariusz Świtalski and companies he controls, has secured an injunction against Świtalski and his assets.
A second injunction was also obtained against Świtalski and his four children, Mateusz, Natasza, Marcin and Mikołaj in relation to their ownership in the Świtalski FIZ investment fund.
Świtalski is a Polish entrepreneur that has been named one of the richest persons in Poland by Wprost Weekly.
On June 25, 2020, a Poznań, Poland court rejected a request to lift the first injunction against Świtalski in a decision that is unappealable.
Delta’s CEO Christopher DeLise said, “This decision bodes well for the success of our legal case against Mariusz Świtalski. The court’s choice to deny Świtalski’s appeal underscores the judges’ confidence in the merits of our legal arguments. Moreover, the attempt to conceal expensive cars at the Świtalski family residence by changing their number plates ahead of our bailiff’s visit demonstrates desperate tactics to avoid fulfilling clear legal obligations. We understand that this matter with supporting evidence has been referred to the appropriate criminal prosecutor in Srem. We are also reassured by statements made last week by the Polish President and Prime Minister regarding the security and attractiveness of US investments in Poland. We are aware that this matter is being carefully observed by the American investment community.”
The two injunctions related to Forteam’s civil suits against Świtalski have been widely reported in the press, with outlets such as Gazeta Wyborcza and Puls Biznesu detailing Świtalski’s history of evading contractual obligations.
By way of background, on May 8, 2015, Forteam purchased from Czerwona Torebka, a 100% stake in Małpka, the owner of the Małpka Express chain. Forteam eventually sold its 16.18% stake in Czerwona Torebka. The parties to that transaction were aware of Małpka’s challenging situation and thus acknowledged in the agreement that additional considerable financing would be needed in order for Małpka to remain afloat.
Accordingly, Mariusz Świtalski and Sowiniec Group contractually agreed to guarantee that Forteam would make a profit from its investment when it eventually exited the business. In connection with the issuance of the guarantee in favor of Forteam, Mariusz Świtalski submitted a written declaration that his personal assets were sufficient to enable him to honor his obligations under the guarantee agreement.
Despite having engaged a well-respected independent investment bank in 2018 to run a robust sales process for it, Forteam was only able to sell Małpka Express for an amount well-below the minimum set forth in the definitive transaction documents and related guarantee agreement.
On December 28, 2018, Forteam notified Świtalski of its obligation to remit the monies owed to Forteam pursuant to the guarantee agreement. Notwithstanding, Świtalski and his companies have failed to pay any amounts due and owing to Forteam, which necessitated the filing of the injunctions and civil lawsuits.