Veteran mass tort attorney Harris Pogust is offering a cautionary tale to the litigation finance community, reflecting on the collapse of his former firm, Pogust Goodhead, after an eye-popping $500 million investment from Gramercy Funds Management. Now serving as a senior adviser at Bryant Park Capital, Pogust is urging funders to rethink how capital is deployed—and monitored—when backing law firms.

An article in Bloomberg Law captures Pogust’s retrospective on the 2023 mega-funding round, which at the time marked one of the largest single infusions into a plaintiff-side law firm. Despite the capital, Pogust Goodhead faltered under internal investigations and allegations of lavish spending, ultimately surrendering asset claims to Gramercy tied to the full $617 million value of the funding arrangement. Pogust bluntly warned that, absent proper oversight, handing a large check to a law firm can quickly devolve into what he described as “buy a Maserati and have fun,” with firms burning through capital without accountability.

In his current role, Pogust is advocating for a more hands-on model where funders act more like partners than passive financiers. He supports collaborative budgeting, ongoing financial oversight, and stronger alignment on outcomes between funders and firms. He also pushed back against calls for heightened regulation or taxation of litigation funders, suggesting that current legislative efforts unfairly target the industry.

For litigation funders, Pogust’s experience offers a timely reminder of the risks that accompany rapid deployment of capital without guardrails. As the size and complexity of funding deals continue to grow, the industry may need to adopt stricter governance standards, enhance operational due diligence, and establish frameworks that ensure discipline in how law firms deploy capital. Pogust’s remarks serve as both a warning and a blueprint for what responsible litigation funding should look like going forward.

London-based private credit firm Lyford Partners, founded by industry veterans Matt Meehan and Toby Bundy, has officially launched with equity backing from U.S. alternative investment firm Moody Aldrich Partners (MAP). The new venture aims to provide hard-asset, situation-specific lending across the UK, Europe, and select offshore jurisdictions.

An article in Insider Media outlines Lyford’s lending focus, which includes bridging short-to-medium term liquidity needs of ultra-high net worth individuals, families, and businesses. The firm will also fund special situations such as matrimonial disputes, probate proceedings, and insolvency-related asset financing. Headquartered in London, Lyford also has a presence in the Cayman Islands, Monaco, and Nassau. The firm typically provides loans ranging from £2 million to £20 million, using high-quality assets as underlying collateral.

Matt Meehan serves as Chief Investment Officer, bringing over three decades of experience and more than £3 billion in deployed capital across 200+ companies in the UK, Europe, and the U.S. Toby Bundy adds deep experience in restructuring and special-situations lending. From MAP’s side, Co-CEO and CIO Eli Kent noted that Lyford is already executing deals and has a strong pipeline, stating that MAP is focused on underwriting “world-class niche investment firms.”

From a legal funding industry perspective, Lyford’s launch is notable for its overlap with scenarios often served by litigation funders—particularly in family, estate, and insolvency matters. Its hard-asset-backed approach offers a flexible alternative to traditional legal funding, and the involvement of MAP signals continued U.S. capital interest in niche credit platforms abroad.