Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: James Koutoulas, CEO, JurisTrade & Typhon Capital Management

James Koutoulas is the CEO of JurisTrade as well its asset management affiliate, Typhon Capital Management, which is a multi-strategy hedge fund with US and Cayman private fund platforms. He is also Managing Member of Koutoulas Law, LLC, a law firm specializing in high-profile financial services litigation.

James founded Typhon in 2008 and it has since grown to 25 staff members, 15 (including many award-winning) trading strategies with operations in 4 countries and 8 cities. While running Typhon, he served as lead customer counsel in the MF Global bankruptcy, leading the recovery of all $6.7 billion in customer assets.

He has successfully litigated a multi-billion cryptocurrency fraud class action, a statistical arbitrage IP theft arbitration, a breach of contract jury trial against a billion-dollar asset management, and a capacity-rights guarantee contract dispute against a quantitative hedge fund. He is a frequent contributor to CNBC, thestreet.com, CoinDesk, and other prominent media outlets. He served on the Board and Executive Committee of the National Futures Association, the derivatives self-regulatory organization, where he helped implement the Dodd-Frank rules on the multi-trillion-dollar swaps market and has advised Congress on commodity and bankruptcy laws and regulations.

James has a JD from the Northwestern University School of Law with a securities concentration.

Company Name and Description: JurisTrade has designed a Litigation Asset Marketplace (operated by trading affiliate, Typhon Capital Management) to package and/or securitize litigation finance solutions to law firms, owners of bankruptcy, mass tort, and other litigation claims, and third-party investors looking for exposure to the asset class. JurisTrade offers a new and disruptive solution: it allows law firms, plaintiffs, and/or those with a financial interest in litigation the opportunity to sell or assign an interest in litigation outcomes to qualified investors in a much more efficient manner than is currently available.

Typhon Capital Management is a multi-strategy hedge fund specializing in tactical trading strategies designed to be uncorrelated to traditional markets under most market conditions and have strong negative correlation during periods of stress. Typhon dedicates itself to developing unique strategies that are truly differentiated and perform when almost everything else fails. Typhon uses unique, modular strategies as building blocks to design bespoke products to meet each investor’s individual needs.

Company Website: https://juristrade.com/ & https://typhoncap.com/

Year Founded: JurisTrade – 2023 & Typhon – 2008  

Headquarters:  1691 Michigan Ave Suite 200, Miami Beach, FL 33139

Area of Focus:  JurisTrade – Litigation Finance & Typhon Capital Management – Finance, Alternative Investments

Member Quote: “By adding standardization, liquidity, and transparency to the nascent but growing litigation finance market, we will institutionalize one of the final frontiers in asset management.”

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Should Courts Encourage Litigation Funding?

By Ken Rosen |

The following was contributed by Ken Rosen Esq, Founder of Ken Rosen P.C. Ken is a frequent contributor to legal journals on current topics of interest to the bankruptcy and restructuring industry.

In many Chapter 11 cases, the debtor’s estate holds valuable litigation claims, which can be a key source of recovery. However, pursuing these claims can be daunting when the defendant has substantially greater financial resources. Well-funded defendants may use aggressive litigation tactics to exploit the estate’s limited means.

Unsecured creditors, often receiving only token recoveries, may be hesitant to approve further legal spending. Debtor’s counsel, wary of nonpayment if litigation fails, may also be reluctant to pursue claims. Contingency fee arrangements can reduce estate risk, but they shift risk to counsel—particularly when facing a resource-rich defendant.

To gain creditor support, more than the committee counsel’s confidence may be needed. Litigation funding can bridge the gap. It provides capital to pursue claims without draining estate resources, helping to fulfill Chapter 11’s core goals: preserving going concern value and maximizing creditor recovery, as recognized by the Supreme Court.

Litigation funding is especially valuable when the estate lacks liquidity. It enables the debtor to pursue meritorious claims against stronger opponents, discouraging defense strategies aimed at exhausting the plaintiff through expensive discovery and motion practice.

The Funder’s Evaluation Process:

  1. Legal Merits – Assessing the strength of claims based on facts, evidence, and precedent.
  2. Recovery Potential – Estimating damages or settlement value to ensure adequate return.
  3. Litigation Costs – Forecasting expenses to trial or resolution.
  4. Risk Analysis – Evaluating the defendant’s ability to pay, jurisdictional issues, and delays.
  5. Independent Review –Funders conduct rigorous due diligence before committing capital.

A funder’s involvement serves as a “second opinion” validating the case. Their willingness to invest can bolster confidence in the claim’s merits and justify some estate contribution. It can serve as a soft endorsement of the litigation’s potential value. When a party seeks authorization for litigation funding it should be viewed by the Bankruptcy Court as weighing in favor of approval.

Whether or not funding is obtained, the terms of any arrangement should be redacted/sealed and remain confidential—shared only with the Court and key constituent counsel. The rationale for proceeding without funding should likewise remain undisclosed. Keeping defense counsel in the dark preserves strategic advantage.

Conclusion:

Litigation funding can be a powerful tool for Chapter 11 estates, enabling pursuit of valuable claims, minimizing financial strain, and supporting reorganization efforts. This strategy aligns with Chapter 11’s purpose and can significantly enhance the likelihood of a successful outcome. Key constituents and the court should recognize that.

Ramco’s Cristina Soler on the Benefits of Monetizing Arbitration Awards

By Harry Moran |

As LFJ covered yesterday, the availability of legal funding is having a significant impact on the world of arbitration, with funders offering a variety of services from financing the initial claim to supporting claimants through the enforcement of awards.

In an interview with Confilegal, Cristina Soler, CEO of Ramco Litigation Funding, discusses the growing use of award monetization in arbitral proceedings and the increasing adoption of litigation funding both in Spain and across Europe. Confilegal spoke with Soler at the 11th edition of the Open de Arbitraje in Madrid, where she participated in a panel discussion with Emma Morales (Simmons & Simmons), Damian Vallejo (Dunning Rievaman & Macdonald LLP), Carlos Iso (SACYR). Lourdes Martínez de Victoria Gómez (Departamento de Arbitrajes Internacionales), and María Rodríguez (ACCIONA).

In the interview, Soler highlights that the end of any arbitration proceedings is never marked simply with a party obtaining an award, as the enforcement of that award is often a long and expensive process. Soler explains that funders like Ramco can provide support in one of two ways: either by providing the financing to cover the legal costs of enforcement, or through the monetization of an award where it is sold or assigned to the funder for an upfront payment.

Soler emphasises that the main benefits of award monetization are the immediate provision of liquidity to the claimant and the mitigation of any risk involved in the complex enforcement process. She also goes on to explain that award monetization has become more sophisticated with different payment structures available and a growing secondary market where these awards are bought and sold.

More insights from Soler are available in the full interview on Confilegal’s website.

JurisTrade CEO Discusses Litigation Asset Marketplace Opportunities

By Harry Moran |

As LFJ covered in March of this year, JurisTrade launched the first phase of its Litigation Asset Marketplace offering over $70 million in litigation funding opportunities, with the aim of bridging the gap between available capital and active cases in need of financing.

In an interview with Global Finance, JurisTrade’s CEO, James Koutoulas discusses the company’s new marketplace, explaining the benefits it offers to both investors and plaintiffs who find themselves in need of additional funding during a case. 

Koutoulas describes the platform as “the first secondary marketplace for litigation assets”, with the marketplace designed to allow investors to buy and sell these opportunities just like tradeable securities. Koutoulas says that this will generate “two or three turns on these cases”, with the flexibility of this model allowing “investors to pick when they want to come in, like VC investors pick the A-round or C-round.”

Koutoulas also clarifies that the marketplace is not targeting retail investors, as the minimum stake is set at $500,000. Instead JurisTrade’s platform is focused on offering these opportunities to institutional investors and family offices, highlighting that due to the variety of cases “every investment is very bespoke.”