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Community Spotlight: Gabriel Pardo Lelo de Larrea, Founder & CEO, RIDER Litigation Finance

By John Freund |

Community Spotlight: Gabriel Pardo Lelo de Larrea, Founder & CEO, RIDER Litigation Finance

Gabriel Pardo Lelo de Larrea—a Mexican lawyer with international experience, business executive, and entrepreneur—has come up with a technological solution that aims to transform the litigation funding space by streamlining and optimizing the traditionally time-consuming funding process.

With a Law Degree from Mexico’s prestigious Universidad Panamericana, a Business Degree from IPADE Business School, and a Master’s in Finance from Duke University, Gabriel brings extensive expertise in arbitration, capital raising, private equity, and litigation finance. Recognizing a critical gap in the industry, he designed a democratized, efficient platform that empowers investors of all sizes to participate while providing owners of legal rights, across a broader spectrum of claim values, with accessible funding opportunities.

Company Name:   RIDER LITIGATION FINANCE, L.L.C.

Company Description:  Built on proprietary technology, RIDER’s automated and efficient processes address a critical need: simplifying and expediting deal sourcing, closing, and post-closing updates. Acting as a matchmaker within its carefully curated network, RIDER connects claimholders, law firms, and investors already registered on its platform.

By democratizing litigation funding, RIDER makes the industry accessible to investors of all sizes while empowering claimholders with large, medium, and smaller-scale claims to secure the financial support they need. This disruptive model expands the litigation finance ecosystem, delivering fairness and efficiency to all stakeholders. RIDER serves as the ultimate dealmaker enabler on a global scale.

  1. Tailored Applications: RIDER meticulously prepares Funding Applications in a format funders prefer, presenting key financial and material aspects with clarity and precision.
  2. Rigorous Filtering: We pre-select cases with a high likelihood of success, backed by double Legal Opinions, ensuring funders are presented with only the most compelling opportunities.
  3. Aligned Expectations: Before negotiations begin, all stakeholders are fully informed about financial expectations and other critical terms, fostering transparency and reducing delays.
  4. Streamlined Negotiations: RIDER’s assistance during negotiations accelerates agreement finalization, providing funders and claim holders with a seamless experience.

Year Founded:   2022, Launching Operations in November 2024.

Headquarters:  Mexico City, although with Global reach.

Area of the Company:   Founder & CEO

Member Quote:   “Democratizing Justice, Empowering Investment on a Global scale”.

About the author

John Freund

John Freund

Commercial

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Courmacs Legal Leverages £200M in Legal Funding to Fuel Claims Expansion

By John Freund |

A prominent North West-based claimant law firm is setting aside more than £200 million to fund a major expansion in personal injury and assault claims. The substantial reserve is intended to support the firm’s continued growth in high-volume litigation, as it seeks to scale its operations and increase its market share in an increasingly competitive sector.

As reported in The Law Gazette, the move comes amid rising volumes of claims, driven by shifts in legislation, heightened public awareness, and a more assertive approach to legal redress. With this capital reserve, the firm aims to bolster its ability to process a significantly larger caseload while managing rising operational costs and legal pressures.

Market watchers suggest the firm is positioning itself not only to withstand fluctuations in claim volumes but also to potentially emerge as a consolidator in the space, absorbing smaller firms or caseloads as part of a broader growth strategy.

From a legal funding standpoint, this development signals a noteworthy trend. When law firms build sizable internal war chests, they reduce their reliance on third-party litigation finance. This may impact demand for external funders, particularly in sectors where high-volume claimant firms dominate. It also brings to the forefront important questions about capital risk, sustainability, and the evolving economics of volume litigation. Should the number of claims outpace expectations, even a £200 million reserve could be put under pressure.

Katch Liquidates Consumer Claims Fund Amid Mounting Delays and Pressure

By John Freund |

Katch Fund Solutions, one of the most prominent players in consumer litigation funding, has placed its consumer claims fund into liquidation.

According to Legal Futures, the move comes in response to mounting liquidity pressures caused by prolonged delays in resolving motor-finance claims and increased uncertainty surrounding major group litigation efforts. The Luxembourg-based fund confirmed it is winding down the portfolio and returning capital to investors on a pro-rata basis.

Katch had been a key backer of large-scale consumer legal claims in the UK, supporting firms such as SSB Law and McDermott Smith Law. Both firms ultimately collapsed, with SSB Law owing £63 million including £16 million in interest, and McDermott Smith Law owing £7 million. Katch’s portfolio also included a substantial stake in the ongoing “Plevin” litigation, a group of cases alleging unfair undisclosed commissions tied to the sale of payment protection insurance. That litigation, initially estimated at £18 billion in value, suffered a blow earlier this year when the High Court declined to grant a group litigation order, further delaying resolution timelines.

The firm’s consumer claims fund held over £400 million in assets as of mid-2025, but was hit hard by increasing investor redemption requests. Katch’s team cited concerns that payouts from major motor-finance cases could be delayed until 2026 or later due to regulatory and judicial developments. With limited short-term liquidity options, the fund concluded that an orderly wind-down was the only viable path forward.

Omni Bridgeway Backs New Zealand Class Action Against Transpower, Omexom

By John Freund |

Omni Bridgeway is backing a newly launched class action in New Zealand targeting Transpower New Zealand Limited and its contractor Omexom, following a major regional blackout that occurred in June 2024.

According to Omni's website, the outage, which affected approximately 180,000 residents and 20,000 businesses across Northland, was triggered by the collapse of a transmission tower near Glorit during maintenance activity conducted by Omexom.

Filed in the High Court in Wellington by law firms LeeSalmonLong and Piper Alderman, the case alleges negligence on the part of both defendants. The plaintiffs claim that Transpower failed to adequately oversee the maintenance, and that Omexom mishandled the work that led to the tower’s collapse.

The class action is proceeding on an opt-out basis, meaning all impacted Northland businesses are automatically included unless they choose otherwise. Under Omni Bridgeway’s funding model, there are no upfront costs to class members, and fees are contingent on a successful outcome.

The economic impact of the outage has been pegged between NZ$60 million and NZ$80 million, according to various estimates, with businesses reporting power losses lasting up to three days and in some cases longer. In the aftermath of the blackout, Transpower and Omexom jointly contributed NZ$1 million to a resilience fund for affected communities, a figure the plaintiffs argue is woefully inadequate compared to the losses incurred.