News and analysis dedicated to the commercial litigation funding sector including regulatory issues, case developments, funding activities, and more.

Aperture Investors, an alternative asset manager and part of the Generali Investments platform, today announced that Luke Darkow has joined the firm to lead its new private credit Litigation Finance strategy. 

Darkow joins Aperture from Victory Park Capital, a global alternative investment manager, where he was a Principal and Portfolio Manager responsible for sourcing, analyzing, executing, and managing investments within the litigation finance asset class. Prior to Victory Park Capital, Darkow held roles at TPG Capital and Morgan Stanley. 

“With Aperture entering its next phase of growth, we see significant potential in specialty lending, particularly in litigation finance, which we believe remains a relatively underbanked asset class. Estimates suggest that the litigation finance market could double annually through 2035,” said Peter Kraus, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Aperture Investors. “Litigation Finance is a niche, relationship-driven sector—and Luke is no tourist. His expertise in both private and public debt investments, his deep network of law firms and legal service providers, and his ability to source opportunities and raise capital will allow us to build out this unique offering at Aperture.”

Litigation Finance involves the provision of third-party capital to help finance law firms or plaintiffs pursuing legal claims in exchange for, or collateralized by, a percentage of proceeds received upon the successful resolution of legal disputes. Aperture’s Litigation Finance strategy will primarily provide structured loans to law firms backed by expected legal fee receivables from procedurally mature, settled, and/or short duration legal cases, targeting uncorrelated returns.

“I’m incredibly pleased to join Aperture and help drive the firm into new opportunities in private credit with this niche, asset-based lending strategy,” commented Darkow. “As Aperture expands its slate of strategies and products, I’m also attracted to the intellectual horsepower and best-in-class infrastructure within the broader firm.” 

About Aperture Investors 

Aperture is an alternative asset management firm offering credit and equity strategies in commingled and bespoke portfolios for institutional investors. Aperture’s mission is outperformance, and it is focused on identifying portfolio managers who it believes have a unique edge and can consistently deliver innovative, solutions-oriented investment results throughout market cycles. Since inception, Aperture has steadily grown its breadth of products, and as of August 31st, it manages approximately $4 billion. Its investment strategies are diversified across asset classes and geographies – each managed by a dedicated investment team – with distribution across North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. 

Aperture Investors was founded in 2018 and is led by industry veteran Peter Kraus and by Generali, one of the largest global insurance and asset management providers. For more about Aperture, visit us at www.apertureinvestors.com.

Danny Kinnear, founder of EAKO Capital, leverages his experience with top financial institutions like Deutsche Bank, Nomura, and Litigation Capital Management to offer innovative financial solutions to corporates, law firms, and funders.  EAKO partners with Google Ventures and Visa-backed entities, as well as major banks, to provide:

• Rapid bank account setup (48-72 hours)
• Diverse funding options (on both a recourse and non-recourse basis)
• Competitive foreign exchange services (a demonstration of how much we can save you, look here)
• Forward credit lines for risk management hedging purposes
• FX options and structured solutions
• Risk management consultancy to resolve complex situations – through our extensive network we can find solutions to most currency problems

Company Name and Description:   EAKO Capital helps law firms, companies, and asset managers access a range of funding and financial risk management solutions.

Company Website:  www.eakocapital.com

Year Founded:  2022

Headquarters:   Supporting clients globally out of London, United Kingdom

Area of Focus:  Comprehensive financial support through multi-currency accounts, currency and interest rate hedging, cross-border & mass payment solutions, and the provision of access to funding, including litigation finance.

Member Quote: “EAKO combines deep banking expertise with technology to deliver intelligent, cost-effective currency and funding solutions to business and asset managers operating internationally.”

Aaron Winston is an author and the Strategy Director at Express Legal Funding, bringing over a decade of experience in the consumer finance industry. In recent years, Aaron has risen to be recognized as an expert in SEO and law firm content marketing, being featured in multiple case studies.

Aaron leverages his deep understanding of digital strategies to enhance Express Legal Funding’s online presence and brand authority with hundreds of thousands of unique website visitors annually. His approach combines analytical precision with creativity, making him a thought leader in the fields of pre-settlement funding and search engine marketing.

Company Name and Description: Express Legal Funding is a nationally recognized and trusted pre-settlement funding company and brand based in Plano, Texas, and is dedicated to providing fair, fast, and affordable financial support to claimants bringing personal injury and other tort claims.

Company Website: https://expresslegalfunding.com/

Year Founded:  2015

Headquarters:  5717 Legacy Drive, Suite 250, Plano, Texas 75024

Area of Focus: Pre-settlement Funding, SEO, Content Marketing, Law Firm Digital Marketing and Websites

Member Quote: Can a pre-settlement funding company really be a household name if most people aren’t even aware the industry exists?

The following is a contributed piece by Tom Webster, Chief Commercial Officer at Sentry Funding.

An EU stakeholder survey is gathering practical information on the operation of third-party funding across the European Union. The study, ‘Mapping Third Party Litigation Funding (TPLF) in the European Union’, was given an extended deadline of 3 September 2024.

Conducted by Civic Consulting and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the research will help the European Commission analyse the legal framework and practical operation of litigation funding in the EU and make policy decisions in the area.

The survey seeks views from stakeholders with experience of third-party funding, including funders, lawyers, consumer organisations, other businesses, public authorities, members of the judiciary and others. As well as questions seeking to discover the extent of funding activity in each EU jurisdiction and typical levels of investment, it also asks for views on both positive and negative effects of litigation funding.

In relation to positive effects, the survey asks a number of questions including whether respondents have observed that current litigation funding practices lead to better access to the courts for parties who could not litigate without funding; whether there is a deterrent effect on companies that serve consumer markets due to the threat of mass claims relating to unsafe products or unfair practices; and whether respondents have seen a filtering effect on claims as those with a low chance of success will not be funded.

In relation to negative effects, questions include whether respondents have observed conflicts of interest; undue influence on decisions such as settlements and appeals; and the funding of frivolous claims.

The EU survey is just one of a number of projects currently examining the litigation funding sector. Also focusing on the EU market, the European Law Institute is undertaking a substantial research project with the aim of establishing a set of principles to identify the issues that should be taken into account when entering into litigation funding agreements.

Meanwhile in the UK, the Legal Services Board recently published a report on litigation funding in England and Wales (https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/A-review-of-litigation-funding.pdf), and the Civil Justice Council has embarked on a wide-reaching review of the sector (https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/advisory-bodies/cjc/current-work/third-party-funding/) which will include recommendations in relation to the future regulation of the industry.

Michelle Silvers is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Court House Capital and leads the company’s business strategy, growth and operations across geographic markets. She oversees stakeholder relations with capital investors and all decisions pertaining to the company’s investment portfolio.

Michelle is a highly-respected leader in litigation funding. She co-founded the litigation funding industry in Australia in 1999 and has over 30 years’ combined funding and legal experience across commercial dispute resolution, insolvency, insurance and collective redress (class actions).

Michelle has played a crucial role in funding more than 200 legal disputes and is passionate about structuring capital and risk management solutions for clients and helping claimants gain access to justice.

In 2019 Michelle joined Court House Capital, quickly establishing the business as a funder of choice in Australia and New Zealand. Previously, she served as Managing Director and CEO of Litigation Lending Services Limited, where she pioneered portfolio funding and grew the business to become one of the most successful funders in the region. Her career also includes senior roles at leading international funders (Augusta Ventures and IMF Bentham, now Omni Bridgeway), global insurance firms (AMP, FAI General, Lawcover) and private legal practice (DLA Piper).

Michelle is a co-founder and Director of the Association of Litigation Funders of Australia (AALF) and is a regular speaker and commentator on industry developments. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales and is a Director of Court House Capital Management Limited.

Company Name and Description: Court House Capital is a leading litigation funder focused on cases in Australia and New Zealand. Court House Capital was established with a mission to provide financial and strategic support to parties seeking capital, risk management and access to justice. Our team is led by industry founders, with Australian based capital, and is renowned for expertise, agility and collaboration.

Company Website: courthousecapital.com.au

Year Founded:  2019

Headquarters: Sydney

Area of Focus: Litigation Finance

Member Quote: We offer cost and risk mitigation strategies for commercial clients and ‘a level playing field’ for those who cannot afford to pursue justice themselves. It is an honour to be co-founders of an industry that provides access to justice for so many, and to be the funder of choice for claimants and professional advisers. Our financial resources, industry network and knowledge has helped many claimants achieve successful outcomes.

Manolete (AIM:MANO), the leading UK-listed insolvency litigation financing company, today announces its audited results for the year ended 31 March 2024. 

Steven Cooklin, Chief Executive Officer, commented: 

“These annual results show that Manolete has now recovered strongly from the UK Government’s suppression of the UK insolvency sector that prevailed during the Covid period. The Company has returned to profitability and has continued its track record of consistent operational cash generation. That has been driven by a record number of 251 case completions in FY24.

The trading results for the new financial year, which commenced on 1 April 2024, clearly show that this positive momentum has continued: year to date, new case enquiries are running 22% ahead of FY24 and our in-house legal team has already completed 116 cases with an aggregate value of £11.8m (compared to this stage last year, where we had completed 93 cases for a total value of £6.3m). This is also reflected in our gross cash receipts where we have already collected £10.3m in the first five months of this financial year, compared to £8.7m for the whole six-month, first half period of the previous financial year.

“Widely reported, challenging, multiple, macro-economic factors including: high interest rates, persistent inflationary threats, stretched Government balance sheets and global conflicts, provide strong tailwinds and significant momentum for further growth. As the clear market leader in the UK insolvency litigation finance sector, the Company is exceptionally well positioned to take advantage of these conditions”. 

Financial (statutory and non-statutory) highlights: 

• Realised revenues on completed cases were £24.2m, a decrease of 10% (FY23: £26.8m) although FY23 included an exceptionally large, funded case completion of which £4.9m was recorded in realised revenue (total settlement £9.5m).
• Adjusting for that single exceptional case, FY24 realised revenues were 11% higher than FY23. 
• 92% of total revenues represented by realised revenues on fully completed cases (FY23: 129%). 
• Increase in the valuation of the cartel cases contributed £0.1m to gross profit in FY24 (FY23: £1.2m). 
• EBIT increased to £2.5m, which represented a positive change from an EBIT loss of £3.1m in the prior year. 
• Gross cash receipts from completed cases were £17.7m, a decrease of 34% (FY23: £26.7m, however, FY23 included the same one-off exceptionally large case completion, referred to above, which delivered gross cash receipts of £9.5m. Excluding that case, gross cash receipts rose by 3%). 
• The Company’s retained share of gross cash receipts from completed cases (after all legal costs and payments to Insolvent Estates) was £10.8m, a decrease of 18% (FY23: £13.1m) but again, the only reason for the decrease was the £9.5m exceptional case in FY23. 
• Cash generated from operations (after all completed case costs and all overheads but before new case investments and taxation) was £5.0m (FY23: £8.0m). 
• As at 31 March 2024, the Company had cash balances of £1.4m and borrowings of £13.7m resulting in a net debt of £12.3m (FY23: £0.6m and £10.5m, respectively and therefore a net debt of £9.9m). 

Operational highlights: 

• A record number of new case investments in UK insolvency cases, an increase of 18%: 311 in FY24 (FY23: 263). 
• A record number of 251 cases were completed in FY24 (FY23: 193 cases), with an average duration per case of 13.2 months (FY23: 15.5 months), generating a Money Multiple of 1.9x (FY23: 1.9x) and an IRR of 131% (FY23: 131%) (based on unaudited internal management information). 
• As previously reported, following the ending in April 2022 of the Covid-related emergency legislation to suppress UK insolvencies and the withdrawal of very substantial financial support to UK businesses by the previous Government, the number of UK insolvencies have been at record high levels. The first wave of these insolvencies has predominantly been the smaller and weaker “zombie” companies. Only in recent months have the larger company insolvencies, typically by way of Administration, returned to levels seen before the Covid pandemic. This has resulted in record high numbers of cases taken on by Manolete but the average case size is smaller than had been the case, pre-pandemic. By way of comparison: FY21 was the trading year that best reflects the completion values of cases acquired and funded before the Covid-19 impact (this is because, on average, cases take around 12 months to complete). In FY21, audited realised revenues were £24.4m from 135 cases: an average of £180k per case, which is close to double the average for FY24 of £96k. 
• ROI of 116% and Money Multiple of 2.2x from 933 completed cases since inception (based on unaudited internal management information). 
• Average case duration across the full lifetime portfolio of 933 completed cases is 12.7 months · 19% increase in live cases: 418 in process as at 31 March 2024 (351 as at 31 March 2023)

Current Trading 

• The first five months of FY25 have been buoyant:
  • Highest ever number of new case enquiries year to date: 348 (FY24: 286). 
  • 103 new case investments, which is broadly tracking the record 146 new case investments for the whole first six months of FY24. 
  • 116 case completions at an aggregate value of £11.8m (FY24: 93 case completions at a total value of £6.3m). o Gross cash receipts from previously completed cases is £10.3m, compared to £8.7m for the whole first six months of FY24. 
  • Net cash receipts (after all payments to insolvent estates and all associated external legal costs) are £6.5m year to date for FY25, compared to £4.6m for the whole first six months of FY24. 

Outlook 

• Given that the number of corporate insolvencies in the UK remain at record highs, the Company can look forward to a sustained period of growth. A strong recovery in the number of larger case investments signed in the second half of FY24 is also an encouraging indicator of future business strength.

A copy of the annual report and accounts will be available on the Company’s website shortly and will be posted to shareholders in due course.

The full announcement and results can be read here.

Nera Capital’s groundbreaking partnership with a substantial European investment platform, is poised to significantly benefit the company’s consumer division. 

This latest success has come at a prosperous time for Nera Capital, which earlier this year expanded into Europe, opening an office in The Netherlands, adding to its locations in England and Ireland. 

Following its establishment in 2011, the company has become a pioneer in the legal finance industry. Nera Capital is a specialist funding provider to law firms across Europe and the US.  The firm has administered legal finance in numerous jurisdictions and assisted more than 200,000 claimants to date. 

Recently, Nera secured a sought after spot in the European Litigation Funders Association. Director of Nera Capital, Aisling Byrne, said: “This latest funding partner is a strategic advancement which will greatly enhance the services we provide to our clients and partners. 

“I am excited about the possibilities this funding line will unlock.” Ms Byrne called the deal a ‘significant milestone’ for the business.  She added: “Nera Capital continues to advocate for transparency and promoting higher industry standards. We assist financially vulnerable consumers, whilst maintaining exceptional returns for our investors and all stakeholders. 

“This newest collaboration allows us to enhance consumer access to justice, supporting equitable outcomes over time for more people.” 

Nakiki SE announces that it is investigating a capital market claim of up to EUR 400,000 against a company listed on the Open Market of the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange. Nakiki is thus opening up a new area of business: the financing of securities law claims.

With this step, Nakiki SE expands its expertise in the area of litigation financing and continues its growth strategy. The financing of securities litigation enables investors and shareholders to pursue potential claims against listed companies without financial risk. Nakiki SE assumes the full cost of the litigation and receives a share of the proceeds in the event of a successful outcome.

This new business area responds to the growing demand for specialised financing models for legal claims in the capital market. Nakiki SE is supported by an experienced team of lawyers and financial experts to ensure that cases are thoroughly investigated and the plaintiffs’ chances of success are maximised.

With the establishment of securities litigation financing, Nakiki SE is positioning itself as a leading player in a dynamically growing market. We see considerable potential here to facilitate investors’ access to capital market legal protection and at the same time to diversify our portfolio,” says Andreas Wegerich, CEO of Nakiki SE.

Today a leading competition law expert, Professor Barry Rodger, has filed a legal claim worth up to £1.04 billion against Google before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”). Google is accused of abusing its dominant position to the detriment of a large class of thousands of UK app developers who need to use its app marketplace, ‘Play Store’ or ‘Google Play’, to access their customers. The class action lawsuit seeks compensation for the losses in revenues suffered by those individuals and businesses, many of whom are SMEs, from August 2018 onwards. 

Professor Rodger alleges that Google has used a variety of technical and contractual restrictions to ensure that Google’s Play Store is the only place where UK app developers can market or sell apps designed for Android devices. The result is that UK app developers have little choice other than to use the Google Play Store if they want to reach a wide audience. Google has then used its dominant position in app distribution to require developers to pay excessive and unfair commissions (of up to 30%) on all their sales of digital content to customers. Professor Rodger claims that absent the combination of exclusionary and exploitative conduct, app developers would have paid less to distribute their apps and sell their digital content. 

Professor Rodger’s action follows significant litigation and regulatory scrutiny of Google’s Play Store conduct around the world, including by the European Commission, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the US Congress. 

A class action is needed in the present case because UK app developers would not individually have the means to each bring claims against Google. The UK’s opt-out class action regime in the CAT provides a mechanism by which these app developers can legitimately seek damages for the harm they have suffered as a result of Google’s conduct. 

Professor Rodger’s claim is backed by a legal team composed of competition litigation and digital markets specialists, Geradin Partners and a counsel team of Robert O’Donoghue (Brick Court Chambers), Daniel Carall-Green (Fountain Court Chambers) and Sarah O’Keeffe (Brick Court Chambers). The claim also relies on the expertise of Professor Amelia Fletcher CBE, Professor of Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia, who has been assisted in preparing her economic report by a team of economists at Fideres. The claim is funded by Bench Walk Advisors, a leading litigation funder with a team of multi awardwinning finance professionals and litigators. 

Professor Rodger said: “It is extremely important that the principles of fairness and equality of opportunity underlie our rapidly expanding digital economy by ensuring effective redress for those harmed by any abusive anti-competitive behaviour in the marketplace. I am bringing this claim because I believe that Big Tech businesses like Google should not be allowed to run roughshod over small businesses. I teach my students every day about the importance of enforcement of competition law and I am now ‘practising what I preach’ by seeking redress in the form of compensation for significant business damage suffered by this class of Android app developers.” 

Founding Partner of Geradin Partners, Damien Geradin, said: “Google is one of the most powerful companies in the world. Regulators around the globe have scrutinised its Play Store conduct and consider it harmful. Yet Google continues to use its monopoly position to force out competition and to exploit app developers. It is imperative therefore that developers in the UK also have the opportunity to seek redress for Google’s wrongful conduct.” 

More information on the claim and regular updates for the proposed class can be found at: www.googleplaystoredeveloperclaim.com.  

McDonald Hopkins is proud to welcome John J. Hanley as a Member in the Business Department and the Litigation Finance Practice Group. John brings with him years of experience, a proven track record of success and an innovative spirit that will play a pivotal role at the firm.

“McDonald Hopkins is a great brand in the litigation finance space.” said John. “The goal here is to capture market share. We will continue to be among the best and most active in the litigation finance space, and I’m excited to contribute to it.”

John specializes in litigation finance and complex financial transactions. He has over two decades of extensive experience from highly esteemed East Coast law firms in first and second lien financings, private debt and equity placements, acquisition and sale of loans, securities, trade claims, and other illiquid assets. His clientele includes a diverse array of financial entities, such as litigation funders, business development companies, specialty lenders, investment banks, hedge funds and others. He attributes his success in the field to his client-focus and the way he approaches complex matters.

“I identify as a part of the client’s team. I use terminology like ‘our position,’ ‘our claims,’ ‘our proceeds,’ and I mean it. It may seem small, but I think it strikes a chord and makes a difference,” John noted.

John’s arrival is a strategic step in building upon the success and influence the Litigation Practice Group has achieved. His addition bolsters a powerhouse team of attorneys, including Marc Carmel and Edward Reilly, who have deep experience in this field. This addition aligns with the group’s recent Chambers ranking, which recognized it as one of five firms ranked in the 2024 Chambers Litigation Support Guide for Litigation Support Deal Counsel (USA-Nationwide) and Marc Carmel as one of eight attorneys ranked individually.

“With John, we truly are positioned to offer unparalleled expertise and service in the litigation finance realm. This not only affirms our leadership in the field but also demonstrates our ongoing dedication to expanding and enhancing the support we provide to our clients. We believe no other middle-market practice matches the scope of our engagements, and John’s arrival shows that the best in the business want to be here. We are thrilled to have him on the team,” said Marc Carmel, Chair of the Litigation Finance Practice and Managing Member of McDonald Hopkins’ Chicago office.

David Gunning, the Chair of McDonald Hopkins’ Business Department echoed Carmel’s sentiment.

“John is an invaluable addition to our Business Department,” said David Gunning, the Chair of McDonald Hopkins Business Department. “His experience will not only strengthen our Litigation Finance Group but will also enhance our broader finance capabilities. We’re excited to have John on board as we continue to grow our department and provide exceptional service to our clients across all areas of finance.”

John will be mostly remote from his home in New Jersey, but will be working closely with McDonald Hopkins’ Chicago office.

Boris Ziser is a partner and co-head of Schulte Roth & Zabel’s Finance Group, where he advises on a diverse range of asset classes and transactions such as asset-backed lending and securitization, warehouse facilities, secured financings, specialty finance lending and esoteric finance transactions. Boris manages the London finance practice and the global litigation funding and law firm finance practice.

With almost 30 years of experience, Boris works on a variety of asset classes, including life settlements, litigation funding, equipment leases, structured settlements, lottery receivables, timeshare loans, merchant cash advances and cell towers, in addition to other esoteric asset classes such as intellectual property, various insurance-related cash flows and other cash flow producing assets. He also represents investors, lenders, hedge funds, private equity funds and finance companies in acquisitions and dispositions of portfolios of assets and financings secured by those portfolios.

Company Name and Description: With a firm focus on private capital, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP is comprised of legal advisers and commercial problem-solvers who combine exceptional experience, industry insight, integrated intelligence and commercial creativity to help clients raise and invest assets and protect and expand their businesses. The firm has offices in New York, Washington, DC and London, and advises clients on investment management, corporate and transactional matters, and provides counsel on securities regulatory compliance, enforcement and investigative issues.

Company Website: https://www.srz.com/

Year Founded: 1969

Headquarters: New York, New York, U.S.A.

Area of Focus: Finance, Litigation Finance, Private Credit, Structured Finance

Member Quote: “With its uncorrelated investment opportunity and plethora of rules that vary by jurisdiction (State-by-State and international), litigation funding is a complicated asset class that is rewarding at the same time, as it enables those with meritorious claims, but without the necessary resources, to pursue justice.”

Thomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI), a global content and technology company, today announced it has acquired Safe Sign Technologies, a UK-based startup that is developing legal-specific large language models (LLMs).

“This acquisition marks another milestone on our journey to combine our trusted content and world-class domain experts with our cutting-edge technology. Based on our internal assessment, we believe Safe Sign’s models have demonstrated industry-leading performance across a number of domain-specific evaluations. We believe that coupling them with our industry-leading content and expertise will help us deliver greater quality and performance from our AI solutions,” said Joel Hron, Chief Technology Officer, Thomson Reuters. “We expect this acquisition to help accelerate our ability to provide our customers with a professional grade AI experience through the CoCounsel AI Assistant – the company’s genAI assistant – that enables professionals across industries to accelerate and streamline their workflows.”

“We believe Safe Sign Technologies has been at the cutting edge of legal AI research since 2022, achieving significant progress in its goal to create the world’s best proprietary legal LLM. Safe Sign’s world-leading team—drawn from Cambridge, DeepMind, Harvard and MIT—is pleased to join with Thomson Reuters to become a major scientific and industrial disrupter in legal AI,” stated the Safe Sign Technologies leadership team, Alexander Kardos-Nyheim and Dr. Jonathan Schwarz.

Alexander Kardos-Nyheim, founder and CEO, founded Safe Sign Technologies in February 2022. He was joined by leading Cambridge Law and AI professors and researchers. Kardos-Nyheim’s team expanded, most notably with the arrival in late 2023 of Dr. Jonathan R. Schwarz, who became the company’s co-founder and chief scientist. Schwarz brought with him world-leading AI expertise, drove the company’s LLM strategy and enabled the company to achieve world-class legal LLM performance. The Safe Sign Technologies team will report directly to Hron and will be working closely with the Thomson Reuters Labs team. To learn more about Safe Sign Technologies and its team, visit the Safe Sign Technologies website.

Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI) (“TR”) informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. The company serves professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Its products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world-leading provider of trusted journalism and news. For more information, visit tr.com.

A specialist Litigation Funder which has offices in Manchester, Dublin and The Netherlands, has appointed an internationally renowned finance executive as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Finance veteran, Robin Grant, has joined Nera Capital bringing over 25 years’ experience in dealing with various asset classes and investment strategies. 

As a long-standing chartered accountant, Mr Grant explained that he has gained extensive UK and international experience with large firms through to start-ups and is now delighted to join the team at Nera Capital.

“The company has always been successful, and at the moment it is on a steep growth curve which makes Nera Capital increasingly attractive to additional institutional investors,” he said. 

“The firm has an exceptional business model where pursuit of justice for the benefit of claimants is at the heart of everything it does while also generating superior risk adjusted returns for our investors. It’s a win-win for everyone except the corporate wrongdoers.

“I’m very pleased to be at Nera and aim to make a positive contribution as part of the management team.”

Mr Grant added that Nera Capital’s success is due to the team working quickly to undertake due diligence, understand the return proposition and do the work needed to get claim strategies into an investable position.

“Once we get there, we move very quickly to deploy funds and aggressively manage the litigation process to get the claims in a position where we can start settling them,” he added.

“The professionalism of the team is unrivalled; this is a team with a strong proven track record.

“They’ve done it for years, they’re all from high-quality institutional, backgrounds and they’re all really passionate about what they do, it’s a very exciting time for the team.”

Reflecting on his own career, Robin explained: “My journey after I left university began with three hard years training to be a chartered accountant with BDO in London.

“It’s an exciting sector to be involved in with lots of challenges and its these that make it enjoyable.” With a craving to earn international finance experience after his qualification in London, Mr Grant boarded a plane to Bermuda and spent the next five years gaining exposure to banking, captive insurance and hedge fund sectors, having stints with PwC and Lombard Odier.   

Looking back on his time, he explained: “I ended up living in Bermuda for five years and the Cayman Islands for two years before returning to London.

“Once back in the UK I gained further experience with large institutions, I was CFO of GLG Partners’ Fund of Funds division (now part of Man Group PLC) and boutique firms, such as Tabula Investment Management Ltd (now part of Janus Henderson), RS Platou Asset Management (now part of Clarksons PLC) and Quantmetrics Capital.

“These experiences are the grounding for everything I have done since then, and I’ve enjoyed taking that skillset and applying it to my role with Nera Capital.”

Speaking about Mr Grant’s appointment, Director of Nera Capital, Aisling Byrne, said the team were delighted to welcome him aboard and look forward to growing the firm together. 

She said: “This year Nera Capital has been able to expand substantially, while achieving significant milestones with multiple investments around the world and large settlements being also achieved “ 

“We are confident that Mr Grant will be able to guide our team through further growth, while we focus on investment returns and justice in the legal system.” 

About Nera Capital 

·       Established in 2011, Nera Capital is a specialist funding provider to law firms.  

·       Provides Law Firm Lend funding across diverse claim portfolios in both the Consumer and Commercial sector. 

·       Headquartered in Dublin, the firm also has offices in Manchester and Holland. 

·       Member of European Litigation Funders Association

.       www.neracapital.com

Lewis Edmonds is a Director of Fibre Group and is a seasoned financial planner with over 10 years of expertise in cross-border planning, wealth management, and alternative investments. He serves a diverse clientele across the UK, USA, Middle East, Europe, and Latin America, offering tailored solutions that include diversification, wealth creation, and risk hedging strategies. 

Lewis’s comprehensive approach ensures clients achieve their financial goals while navigating the complexities of international finance. Lewis manages the group’s portfolio of investment opportunities and fund management providers, whilst assessing new opportunities to enhance the company’s offering. 

Company Name and Description: Based in the United Kingdom, Fibre Group focuses on cross-border payments, cross-border wealth and alternative investment strategies. 

The payments side of the businesses ensures clients have access to highly competitive exchange rates through multi-currency banking solutions, and guidance to manage foreign exchange risk, which is often a significant consideration for international property transactions and cross-border wealth matters. 

Fibre Capital focuses on international wealth management and alternative investment, by providing tailored strategies that are customised to individual goals and risk preferences.

Acknowledging the limitations of conventional banking, Fibre looks beyond public markets and traditional investments to identify solutions that diversity, balance and enhance clients’ portfolios. 

Within the Litigation funding ecosystem, Fibre’s role is to introduce their active and growing client base of investors, to investment opportunities in the litigation funding space, via loan note, corporate bond, or direct investment. 

Company Website: www.fibrepayments.com — https://fibre.capital

Year Founded:  2021

Headquarters:  London

Area of Focus:  Traditional wealth management and alternative investment strategies for our active client base. 

Member Quote: “In an ever-changing economic landscape, we are actively seeking innovative investment strategies, to ensure the best outcome for our clients and opportunities in litigation financing are increasingly becoming an attractive alternative asset class, for our clients.”

DocPro Limited, a leading legal technology company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of a $500,000 pre-seed investment round from Multiway Industries. This strategic investment underscores DocPro’s commitment to streamlining and enhancing the delivery of legal services through innovative AI-powered solutions.

Advancing Legal Services

Established in 2020, DocPro Limited has been dedicated to making legal services more efficient, accessible, and cost-effective. Through its platforms, DocPro.com and DocLegal.ai, the company leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence to simplify the creation, customization of legal documents. With over 50,000 registered users worldwide, DocPro.com has become a trusted resource for individuals and businesses seeking reliable legal documentation.

The soon-to-be-launched DocLegal.ai aims to be the most accessible and affordable legal tech solution globally, offering legal documents at prices as low as $2 per document. This initiative will make high-quality legal services readily available to professionals, businesses and individuals alike.

“Our goal is to enhance the delivery of legal services by harnessing AI to make legal processes more efficient and accessible,” said Kim Chan, Founder and CEO of DocPro Limited. “This pre-seed investment from Multiway Industries will allow us to accelerate our development efforts, expand our offerings, and improve the overall user experience.”

Strategic Growth and Product Development

The $500,000 pre-seed investment will be allocated towards advancing product development, expanding the engineering and AI teams, and implementing go-to-market strategies. DocPro’s focus extends beyond document generation, with plans to introduce a comprehensive AI legal assistant service, further enhancing its offerings in the legal tech space.

Investor Confidence

“We are excited to support DocPro in their efforts to enhance legal technology,” said Ellie Lee, Managing Director of Multiway Industries. “Their innovative use of AI not only streamlines complex legal processes but also makes legal services more accessible and efficient for businesses like ours.”

About DocPro Limited

Founded in 2020, DocPro Limited is a legal technology company dedicated to streamlining the legal industry through AI-powered solutions. As an incubatee under the Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) incubation programs, DocPro has developed platforms like DocPro.com and DocLegal.ai to empower legal professionals and businesses to create and manage legal documents efficiently and accurately. For more information, visit DocPro.com and DocLegal.ai .

About Multiway Industries

Established in 1978, Multiway Industries is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of extension cords, power adaptors, surge protectors, energy-saving programs, and USB chargers. Committed to supporting innovative technology companies, Multiway Industries partners with visionary entrepreneurs to bring transformative solutions to market, making services more accessible and efficient for businesses worldwide.

On Thursday August 15th, LFJ hosted a Virtual Town Hall titled ‘PACCAR Revisited.’ The live event revisited the PACCAR decision one year later and explored what the future holds for legal funding in the UK and beyond.

Panelists included Ben Knowles (BK), Chair International Arbitration at Clyde & Co LLP, Robert Marven (RM), Barrister at 4 New Square, Nicholas Marler (NM), Head of Technical Underwriting at Litica Ltd, and Neil Purslow (NP), Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Therium Capital Management Limited. The panel discussion was moderated by Tets Ishikawa, Managing Director of LionFish Litigation Finance Limited.

Below are some key takeaways from the event:

We don’t hear much from insurers in regard to the PACCAR issue. Nicholas, from an insurer’s perspective, what are your thoughts?

NM: The ATE insurers’ odyssey through the world of PACCAR is in some ways quite different from that of a litigation funder. At first bluff, you might think that PACCAR doesn’t have anything to do with insurers because it has to do with litigation funding agreements, and you’d never catch an insurer signing an LFA, so what’s the problem?

If you scratch a little deeper though, the reality is quite different. If you as an insurer, insure a funder, and the funder gives an adverse costs indemnity to the claimant, then all of a sudden, the insurer’s contractual fortunes are tied to the funders. If the LFA is unenforceable, then not only can the insurer not collect its contingent premium if there’s a success, but the coverage provided to the funder has vanished–this is because the LFA is unenforceable.

We actually had this exact experience play out. An opportunistic claimant sought to cut the funder out, because it felt emboldened to do so as a result of the PACCAR decision. When they were informed that doing so would void their insurance, which was to their benefit, they magically found the goodwill necessary to resolve things with their funder and an amicable solution was quickly found.

You’ve touched on enforceability. Given how central that is to the heart of the PACCAR issue, Robert, can you share some insights and perspectives on this corse issue?

RM: There are essentially two views on the concept of enforceability. One is that it essentially says there isn’t anything wrong with the contract, just that it can’t be enforced. There is another view which says that the contract is unenforceable, that it is an illegal contract. I don’t agree with that. It seems this is one of the paradoxes of PACCAR, it seems to have rendered unenforceable funding agreements that were perfectly legal under common law.

A lack of enforceability is important to understand as a two-way street. It means the funder cannot enforce, and it also means the claimant cannot enforce. And this is the key to understanding why things have been put right in cases that are still ongoing. A claimant who says to a funder ‘I don’t have to pay you anymore,’ well, a funder could say to the same token, ‘I don’t have to fund your case anymore.’ And we have seen cases that have been over or very nearly over, where the claimants think they don’t need the funder anymore and saying ‘thank you very much, I needed the funding but I don’t have to pay you.’ Or ‘I did pay you, but I want the money back.’

This is where it’s important to remember that enforceability is a two-way street. If all sides want to continue to carry on, then everyone has an incentive in fixing the problem. It’s only where those interests converge that seem to have led to a significant litigation dispute.

Ben, from your perspective, how do you think this affects the UKs standing as a legal jurisdiction?

BK: PACCAR created a mess, and it was an expensive mess, irrespective of where we’re going to end up. There’s been a lot of lawyer’s time figuring out what PACCAR means and where we’re going to go. The PACCAR fix, as I call it, would have cleared things up to some extend. But the absence of that means some of this uncertainty will continue. And uncertainty means additional costs.

We have these various appeals on the funding agreements out there at the moment. I would expect that in some of these cases, there will be appeals that go to the Court of Appeals, and potentially, all the way up to the Supreme Court. My feeling is, when there’s a case to be funded, lawyers will find a way to get that case funded. Although I’d imagine there will be a risk premium attached to that funding, not least because everybody will be getting their funding agreements checked, double-checked and triple-checked. And you may have lawyers who disagree on what’s permissible, and that leads to additional costs at the start of the case.

This session is about PACCAR, but we’d be remiss not to talk about the CJC, given how the two issues merge. Neil, you’re on the consultation group for the CJC review. Are there any insights you’re able to share?

NP: There’s now a working party reporting up to the CJC. We’re expecting an interim report from that working party to come out in late summer or early autumn, and there will be a consultation, and then the final report in the middle of next year. So we’ve put on quite a tight timeline.

From an industry perspective, this review is welcome, unless you’re opposed to the idea of talking about regulation, which I don’t think the industry is. This is a sensible organizational group that is considering these points in a proper and thoughtful way. I would encourage people to get behind the work that ILFA and ALFA are doing here, and I’d also encourage funders to get involved in the consultation phase as well. It’s very important that the CJC are thinking about these points with a full and proper understanding of how funding actually works, so they can understand the impact.

I think it’s also important that the industry makes sure that the review takes place in a proper context, and by ‘proper context’ I mean that there is an understanding that funding does have benefits. So the review should look at how good responsible funding can be encouraged and those benefits can be maximized, rather than looking at funding as a suspicious thing that needs to be controlled and is just a risk. I think there is a very positive message for funding that needs to be emphasized, and I think the CJC needs to look at it through this positive lens, and I’m confident that they will.

To view the entire digital event, click here.

Dan is a founder of the business, but began his career at one of the UK’s largest FX brokerages. He has since built a robust network of partnerships with financial advisors and lawyers, focusing on high-net-worth clients and professionals in sports.

Dan also specialises in supporting trusts and wealth structures with cross-border payments and management of their assets, addressing challenges typically faced with by traditional banks. 

Recognising the demand from clients for interest solutions to complement the multicurrency offering, Dan also focuses on identifying new growth and investment opportunities to enhance the current portfolio and meet clients’ needs. 

Company Name and Description: Fibre Group

Based in the United Kingdom, Fibre focus on cross-border payments, cross-border wealth and alternative investment strategies. 

The payments slide of the businesses ensures clients have access to highly competitive exchange rates through multicurrency banking solutions, and guidance to manage foreign exchange risk, which is often a significant consideration for international property transactions and cross-border wealth matters. 

Fibre Capital focuses on international wealth management and alternative investment, by providing tailored strategies that are customised to individual goals and risk preferences.

Acknowledging the limitations of conventional banking, Fibre look beyond public markets and traditional investments to identify solutions that diversity, balance and enhance clients’ portfolios. 

Within the litigation funding ecosystem, Fibre’s role is to introduce their active and growing client base of investors, to investment opportunities in the litigation funding space, via loan note, corporate bond, or direct investment.

Company Website: www.fibrepayments.com — https://fibre.capital

Year Founded:  2021

Headquarters:  London

Area of Focus:  Cross-border payments, interest solutions and alternative investment strategies. 

Member Quote: “We are dedicated to delivering the highest service standards by integrating cutting-edge payment technology with innovative interest and investment strategies to achieve the best outcomes for our clients.”

The following article was contributed by Mats Geijer, Counsel Scandinavia of Deminor.

In the complex world of securities trading, disputes and violations can arise, leading to legal actions that seek to hold wrongdoers accountable and provide recourse for affected parties.

In recent years we have seen an increase in actions from investors towards listed companies, shareholders vs the so-called issuers in the region. Notable cases are OW Bunker, Danske bank in Denmark and more recently Ericsson in Sweden.

Securities litigation serves several important purposes in the financial ecosystem, namely:

1. Protecting Investors: Securities litigation helps investors in their fiduciary responsibility to seek financial compensation for losses resulting from securities fraud or misconduct. By holding wrongdoers accountable, it deters fraudulent activities and promotes market integrity.
2. Enforcing Compliance: Securities litigation enforces compliance with securities laws and regulations, ensuring that companies and individuals adhere to disclosure requirements and ethical standards in their financial dealings.
3. Promoting Transparency: Securities litigation can uncover hidden risks, misrepresentations, or conflicts of interest that may impact investors’ decisions. This transparency is essential for maintaining trust in the financial markets.
4. Enhancing Corporate Governance: Securities litigation can target corporate governance failures, such as breaches of fiduciary duty or conflicts of interest among corporate insiders. Holding company officers and directors accountable can lead to improved governance practices.

Securities litigation in Sweden can be done in various ways, through class/group actions, derivative actions, or regulatory enforcement actions (by authorities). Case law in the sphere of private enforcement is historically scarce but will now hopefully start to emerge. A historic reason is probably that Sweden as a civil law country lacks statutory rules regulating civil liability in relation to improper securities activities.

In the Ericsson case, 37 institutions are claiming roughly $200 million from the issuer in the district court of Solna, Sweden. The claimants state they have suffered investment losses since Ericsson withheld information about potential bribes paid to the terrorist organisation ISIS in Iraq, that caused the share price to fall. The claimants are all large (non-Swedish) institutional investors, and the case is funded by a third-party funder (not Deminor). The case will be tried in the first instance court in 2025.

The legal community expects to see an increase in litigation related to securities in the coming years, to paint a picture in 2021 there where was one (1) initial public offering every second day (157 in total). In 2022-23 there were only a handful of initial public offerings each year. Sweden has a disproportionate number of listed companies compared to other EU countries and it is considered a national sport to invest in the stock market. A majority of listed shares are held by local and foreign sovereign wealth funds, they seldom engage in litigation locally but often participate in international cases in the US and elsewhere. The economy is currently in a recession which has historically always led to an increase in the number of disputes.

Deminor is the only international funder with a local presence that focuses on securities litigation. On paper there are plenty of opportunities in Scandinavia, but in practical terms cases are often too “small” meaning the quantum of the potential loss the investor has suffered is not sufficient to initiate the litigation. Or which is more often the situation, the investors that do hold a significant part of the shares (the loss) are not willing to engage in litigation for various reasons. The claimants that are willing to lead the way in terms of creating the much-needed case law is the types we see in the Ericsson case, foreign institutional investors.

We could summarize the situation with a phrase coined by the advertising industry for when there was a minute of silence before the next add was supposed to run – watch this space!