Trending Now
Announcements Commercial People Moves

Burford Capital’s industry-leading legal finance team continues to grow

November 30, 2021

Burford Capital’s industry-leading legal finance team continues to grow

Burford Capital, the leading global finance and asset management firm focused on law, today announces it is further enhancing its industry-leading team and legal finance offerings to clients. In addition to new hires in New York, Washington and Chicago, Senior Vice President Dr. Jörn Eschment has relocated to Switzerland to oversee the growth of Burford’s substantial business in the DACH region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Christopher Bogart, CEO of Burford Capital, said: “As the industry leader with a $4.8 billion portfolio, we continue to build Burford’s team to meet the needs of our clients and the continuing growth of our business.

“At Burford, we place significant emphasis on a collaborative culture, with strong intellectual and interpersonal dynamics at the heart of our organization. As we add experts to our team, we look for intelligent, thoughtful and creative individuals who always try to expand upon what is possible—which we believe we have found with each of these new additions.

“We are pleased to announce these new hires and Jörn’s move to the DACH region, which continue to amplify our position as the gold standard in commercial legal finance.”

The composition of Burford’s global team of over 140 employees – 66 of whom are lawyers – reflects its category leadership as well as its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, as half of Burford’s team are women, racial minorities or self-identify as LGBTQ.

Further growth of Burford’s industry-leading investment team

  • Apoorva Patel has joined Burford in Washington, DC, as a Vice President with a focus on assessing legal risk in international arbitration, a topic about which he writes and speaks regularly as a leader in several global and national lawyers’ organizations focused on international dispute resolution. Prior to joining Burford, he was most recently Counsel in WilmerHale’s international arbitration and international litigation practices. Mr. Patel graduated from Harvard Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Negotiation Law Review. He earned his bachelor’s degree in public policy from Duke University, where he graduated magna cum laude. 
  • Gabriela Bersuder has joined Burford in New York as a Vice President. She previously practiced as a litigator at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, where she represented Fortune 500 companies, food and beverage manufacturers and large corporations in complex commercial litigations, arbitrations and mediations. She clerked for the Honorable John G. Koeltl (Southern District of New York) and Honorable Christopher F. Droney (Second Circuit). Ms. Bersuder earned her law degree from Duke University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University.
  • Peter McLaughlin has joined Burford in Chicago as a Vice President. Prior to Burford, he was a litigator at Sidley Austin, where he specialized in conducting investigations related to securities and healthcare regulation and served as counsel for jury trials, bankruptcy proceedings and arbitration hearings. He clerked for the Honorable James B. Zagel of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Prior to earning a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law, he was a trading analyst at Credit Suisse. Mr. McLaughlin is a graduate of Georgetown University.

Dedicated staff to pursue business opportunities in DACH region

  • Dr. Jörn Eschment, Senior Vice President, has relocated to Zug, Switzerland, to oversee the growth of Burford’s substantial business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Prior to joining Burford’s investment team in London in 2018, he practiced international commercial arbitration and litigation at Herbert Smith Freehills in Hong Kong and at Schellenberg Wittmer in Zurich. Dr. Eschment read law at the universities of Freiburg, Liverpool, Marburg and Passau, graduating with the German Staatsexamen, an LLM in European law and a doctorate in public international law, all with distinction. He also holds a master’s from the War Studies Department at King’s College London.

Additional talent augments new business origination team 

  • Bill Walker has joined Burford in Washington, DC, as a Director, building on a career spanning consulting, in-house and law firm roles. Most recently he expanded Deloitte’s law-focused business development efforts with key clients at Fortune 500 companies, publicly traded middle-market companies and law firms. Previously he founded Ansun Management Partners, a boutique professional services firm, was a corporate attorney specializing in complex corporate transactions at several large multi-national law firms and was an in-house lawyer at the American Red Cross. Mr. Walker earned his JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he served as articles editor of the Connecticut Journal of International Law, and his bachelor’s in economics from College of the Holy Cross. 

Global organization strengthened with top talent across business functions

  • Chermia S. Hoeffner has joined Burford as Vice President, Human Resources. Prior to joining Burford, she was Head of Human Resources at the National Audubon Society, where she led the human resources team, implemented organization-level job architecture and developed policies, procedures and initiatives crucial to the overall strategy at Audubon. Ms. Hoeffner has also worked in human resources roles at TIAA-CREF, Mercer and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. She has over two decades of experience managing a broad range of HR functions at global organizations. Ms. Hoeffner graduated with an MBA in management from Pace University and a bachelor’s in English from SUNY-Albany.
  • David Helfenbein has joined Burford as Vice President, Public Relations. He has over a decade of experience in litigation and legal communication, crisis management, public affairs, government relations and public policy. Prior to joining Burford, he worked as an Associate Director at Finsbury Glover Hering and held senior roles at several public relations firms and branding agencies. He began his career working in the US Senate, followed by the US Department of State. Mr. Helfenbein earned his law degree from the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis and his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Ilya Podolskiy, CPA, CGMA, CRMA, Cr. FAC, has joined Burford as Vice President, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Compliance. Mr. Podolskiy has over a decade of experience implementing audit and SOX strategies. He was previously a SOX Manager for Sirius Group and for Assured Guaranty. Prior to that, Mr. Podolskiy held roles with internal audit functions including Senior Internal Auditor for American International Group (AIG) and Tokyo Marine North American Services (TMNAS). Mr. Podolskiy earned his bachelor’s in accounting from CUNY Hunter College and his master’s in taxation from Villanova School of Law.
  • Phillip Lu has joined as Head of Burford’s Project Management Office, with responsibility for Burford’s program/project management, business analysis and strategic planning capabilities. He was previously a Director at KPMG, where he evaluated and developed new digital and data strategies, technologies and business models; he also served as a Senior Manager at EY. Mr. Lu began his career as a management consultant and held technology strategy and project management roles at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. He earned his bachelor’s in economics from New York University.

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 principal offices in New York, London, Chicago, Washington, Singapore and Sydney.

Secure Your Funding Below
Secure Your Funding Sidebar

Announcements

View All
Announcements Commercial

Pogust Goodhead Appoints Jonathan Edward Wheeler as Partner and Head of Mariana Litigation

By John Freund |

Pogust Goodhead law firm has appointed Jonathan Edward Wheeler as a partner and Head of Mariana Litigation, adding heavyweight firepower to the team driving one of the largest group claims in English legal history following the firm’s landmark liability win against BHP in the English courts.

Jonathan joins Pogust Goodhead from Morrison Foerster in London, where he was a leading commercial litigation partner, having served for seven years as office co-managing partner and for 15 years as Head of Litigation. A specialist in complex, cross-border disputes, Jonathan has extensive experience acting in high-value commercial litigation, civil fraud and asset tracing, international trust disputes, contentious insolvency and investigations across multiple jurisdictions.

In his new role, Jonathan will assume strategic leadership of the proceedings arising from the Mariana dam disaster against mining giant BHP, overseeing the continued development of the case into the damages phase and working closely with colleagues in Brazil, the UK, the Netherlands and beyond.

Howard Morris, Chairman at Pogust Goodhead said: “Jonathan is a heavyweight addition to Pogust Goodhead and to our Mariana team. His track record in running some of the most complex cross-border disputes in the English courts, together with his leadership experience, make him exactly the kind of senior figure we need after our historic liability victory. Our clients will benefit enormously from his expertise and judgment.”

Jonathan Wheeler said: “It is a privilege to join Pogust Goodhead at such a pivotal moment in the Mariana case. The recent liability judgment is a watershed for access to justice and corporate accountability. I am honoured to help lead the next phase of this extraordinary litigation and to work alongside a team that has shown such determination in seeking justice for hundreds of thousands of victims.”

Alicia Alinia, CEO at Pogust Goodhead said: “Bringing in lawyers of Jonathan’s calibre is a strategic choice. As we expand the depth and breadth of our disputes practice globally, we are investing in senior talent who can help us deliver justice at scale for our clients and build an even more resilient firm.”

The Mariana proceedings in England involve over 600,000 of Brazilian individuals, businesses, municipalities, religious institutions and Indigenous communities affected by the 2015 Fundão dam collapse in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Following the English court’s decision on liability on the 14th of November 2025, the case will now move into the next stage focused on damages and the quantification of losses on an unprecedented scale.

Announcements Regulatory Issues

Pravati Capital Establishes Coalition to Advance Responsible Litigation Funding Regulation Across U.S. Following Arizona Law’s Passage

By John Freund |

Arizona’s Senate Bill 1215 (SB1215) will become law on Jan. 1, 2026, marking a significant milestone in the state’s role as a national leader in advancing access to justice through litigation funding, positioning Arizona as a model for other states considering similar measures. Arizona’s legislation reflects a broader movement in states such as California and Georgia, where lawmakers are weighing the benefits of litigation finance as a way to level the playing field for plaintiffs facing deep-pocketed adversaries.

To help advance these efforts, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Pravati Capital, one of the oldest litigation finance firms in the U.S. and supporter of the bill alongside the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the broader legal community, has formed a coalition of litigation funders, attorneys and policy advocates committed to ensuring that states pass responsible regulation that protects plaintiffs. 

The bill’s final passage underscores a consensus reached after months of negotiations and reflects bipartisan compromise, according to Alexander Chucri, founder and CEO of Pravati Capital. SB1215 ensures funding remains a viable option for plaintiffs seeking to stand on equal footing with well-capitalized corporate opponents; it requires greater transparency of legal proceedings and prohibits funding and influence by foreign countries or entities of concern as defined in the legislation. 

“Arizona’s leadership in the area of litigation funding sends a powerful signal nationally,” said Senate Majority Whip Frank Carroll, a key supporter of the legislation. “This legislation is the product of constructive negotiation that demonstrates what’s possible when all sides work toward the shared goal of preserving access to justice.”

“It closes the door on bad actors while ensuring responsible litigation finance firms can continue to help plaintiffs pursue meritorious claims,” said Chucri. “At Pravati, we welcome this as part of an ongoing dialogue.”

SB1215 took effect on September 26, 90 days after the close of the legislative session, and, with a delayed effective date, will become law on January 1. Among key provisions, SB1215:

·       Protects the integrity of cases by restricting involvement by foreign countries or entities of concern as defined in the legislation, ensuring litigation funding remains aligned with U.S. legal and ethical standards.

·       Preserves innovation in legal services, reaffirming Arizona’s pioneering role in allowing alternative business structures (ABS), law firms that permit non-lawyers decision-making authority, to expand access to legal services by partnering with litigation funding firms.   

·       Balances regulation, affirming safeguards such as prohibitions on funders controlling litigation, while maintaining transparency. 

Chucri added, “Pravati has always believed our mission — ‘to befriend, help and protect’ — is best achieved through cooperation and a willingness to educate stakeholders. We will continue to engage constructively in conversations to advance fair, responsible access to justice.” 

About Pravati Capital

Established in 2013, Pravati Capital, LLC is among the oldest litigation finance firms in the U.S., delivering a proven track record as an equalizing force in court and a unique and uncorrelated asset class to investors. Founded by Alexander Chucri, a visionary in developing the industry's first pioneering model of litigation finance in 2003, Pravati Capital brings together a seasoned team with deep experience across law, finance and successful entrepreneurial ventures. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based firm delivers strategic capital solutions for attorneys and law firms, helps plaintiffs gain access to justice through financial support, and offers accredited investors an attractive asset class designed to perform independently of traditional markets. Pravati’s mission is its namesake: to befriend, help and protect. For more information, visit PravatiCapital.com. 

Announcements Commercial

Burford Issues YPF Litigation Update Ahead of Pivotal Appeal Hearing

By John Freund |

Burford Capital has released a detailed investor update ahead of a key appellate hearing in its high-profile litigation against Argentina over the renationalization of YPF.

According to Burford’s press release, oral arguments in the consolidated appeal—referred to as the “Main Appeal”—are scheduled for October 29, 2025, before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The hearing will address Argentina’s challenge to a $16 billion judgment issued in 2023, as well as cross-appeals concerning the dismissal of YPF as a defendant. The release outlines the appellate process and timelines in granular detail, noting that a ruling could come months—or even a year—after the hearing, with additional delays possible if rehearing or Supreme Court review is pursued.

Burford also clarified the distinction between the Main Appeal and a separate appeal involving a turnover order directing Argentina to deliver YPF shares to satisfy the judgment. That order has been stayed pending resolution, with briefing set to conclude by December 12, 2025. Meanwhile, discovery enforcement is proceeding in the District Court, where Argentina has been ordered to produce documents—including internal and “off-channel” communications—amid accusations of delay tactics.

International enforcement efforts continue in at least eight jurisdictions, including the UK, France, and Brazil, where Argentina is contesting recognition of the US judgment.

The update serves both as a procedural roadmap and a cautionary note: Burford stresses the unpredictable nature of sovereign litigation and acknowledges the possibility of substantial delays, setbacks, or settlements at reduced values.