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Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight:  Luke Darkow, Portfolio Manager, Aperture Investors

By John Freund |

Luke Darkow is a Portfolio Manager at Aperture Investors, bringing over 13 years of experience in investing with a specialization in litigation finance private credit investments. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in sourcing, analyzing, structuring, and managing investments, deploying more than $1 billion into the litigation finance asset class. Luke leverages a well-established network of plaintiff law firms and legal service providers to access and originate opportunities within this specialized field.

Before Aperture, Luke was a Principal and Portfolio Manager at Victory Park Capital, where he led a litigation finance asset-based lending strategy. His background also includes roles at TPG Capital and Morgan Stanley, further enriching his expertise in finance and investment management. Luke holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus on Finance – Applied Investment Management from Marquette University.

Company Name and Description:  Aperture Investors is an alternative asset manager founded by Peter Kraus, focusing on specialized credit and equity strategies across global markets. The firm aims to generate compelling returns in capacity-limited strategies, emphasizing a client-centric approach. Aperture operates as part of the Generali Investments ecosystem, combining boutique agility with large-scale resources. Aperture supports private credit litigation finance, structured credit, and diverse equity strategies, managing over $3 billion in assets.

Company Website: https://apertureinvestors.com/

Year Founded: Founded in 2018 by Peter Kraus in partnership with Generali Group, one of the largest global insurance and asset management companies

Headquarters:  Headquartered in New York with offices in London and Paris

Area of Focus:  Aperture Investors approaches litigation finance through a private credit perspective, prioritizing capital protection and steady income by utilizing structured term notes. These notes are backed by diversified, settled, or short-duration legal claims, offering lower volatility than traditional litigation funding, which depends on individual case outcomes and carries higher uncertainty and risk.

We primarily focus on lending against legal claims that are either post-settlement or procedurally mature, near-settlement, and/or short-duration. This approach emphasizes secured lending on more predictable claims to reduce volatility and enhance income stability

Member Quote: “The litigation finance asset class generally exhibits minimal correlation with broader capital markets, is highly inefficient, and continues to grow as demand for legal funding exceeds available capital, creating a compelling opportunity for private credit lenders like Aperture Investors.”

Commercial

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Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: Carlos Ara Triadu, Partner, CUATRECASAS

By John Freund |

Company Name and Description: CUATRECASAS - a leading multi-disciplinary Spanish law firm, providing comprehensive legal services to clients across various industries. With a strong presence in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, among others, the firm is recognized for its innovative solutions and commitment to excellence.  

Company Website: https://www.cuatrecasas.com/en/spain/

Year Founded: 1917

Headquarters: Barcelona and Madrid (Spain).

Area of Focus: Litigation Funding and Restructuring

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Announcements Commercial People Moves

International Legal Finance Association Welcomes First Global Director of Growth and Membership Engagement

The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) today announced the recruitment of Rupert Cunningham as Global Director of Growth and Membership Engagement. In this role, Rupert will work to drive ILFA’s membership growth and retention, provide leadership and management to serve ILFA members, and promote global education and awareness of litigation finance.

Prior to joining ILFA, Rupert served as a Special Adviser to UK Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk KC. He advised the Lord Chancellor on courts, sentencing, and legal services policy and shepherded legislation to support the legal finance industry in England and Wales. Before his work in government, Rupert worked as a public affairs and policy consultant, helping build coalitions of clients and trade associations to achieve positive political outcomes.

“We are thrilled to announce the addition of Rupert Cunningham,” said Shannon Campagna, ILFA’s interim Executive Director. “Rupert’s experience working with membership and trade associations to build coalitions across industries and in the UK’s Ministry of Justice makes him uniquely suited for leading ILFA’s global growth and engagement.”

“I am delighted to be joining ILFA, the leading global organization advocating for the legal finance sector,” Rupert Cunningham said. “When I was in the Ministry of Justice, I saw firsthand how important third-party funding is for promoting access to justice, so I am glad to be supporting the industry by expanding ILFA’s membership and helping members amplify their voice with industry stakeholders and policymakers worldwide.” 

Rupert’s appointment demonstrates ILFA’s commitment to expanding legal finance industry representation across continents and extending the industry’s reach with legislative, regulatory, and judicial policymakers worldwide.

About the International Legal Finance Association   

The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) represents the global commercial legal finance community, and its mission is to engage, educate, and influence legislative, regulatory, and judicial landscapes as the voice of the commercial legal finance industry. It is the only global association of commercial legal finance companies and is an independent, non-profit trade association promoting the highest standards of operation and service for the commercial legal finance sector. ILFA has local chapter representation around the world.  

For more information, visit www.ilfa.com and find us on LinkedIn and X @ILFA_Official.

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Commercial Regulatory Issues

The Future of Litigation Funding Regulation Under the Trump Administration 

Following this month’s elections in the United States, litigation funding leaders and industry observers have begun to try and predict what the change in government at the federal level may mean for efforts to increase regulation and oversight of the litigation finance industry.

An article in The American Lawyer looks at the issue of increased regulation for litigation funding through the lens of the election, getting the views of industry experts as to what approach the incoming GOP trifecta might take. With one piece of draft legislation focusing on funding disclosure already introduced to the House, courtesy of Rep. Darrell Issa of California, lawyers and funders alike are anxious to see whether the Trump administration will take a more combative approach to third-party funding.

Broadly speaking, the view from industry appears to be split on whether the attitudes of Congress and the White House will be aligned on this issue. Charles Agee, CEO of Westfleet Advisors, said that “regulating the litigation finance industry does not seem to be at the top of the agenda for the Trump administration”. Whilst Dai Wai Chin Feman, managing director at Parabellum Capital, noted that Trump has previously exhibited a trend towards appointing judges with less litigation experience, which may harm the industry as it could “inject more variability in litigation funders' ability to underwrite outcomes.” 

Paul Haskel, partner with Crowell & Moring, agreed that regulating third-party funding may not be a high priority for President Trump, but suggested that the commonly-repeated claim that funding acts as a route for foreign actors to malignly influence US interests could be “an appealing way for this administration to attack it.” Similarly, Mark Behrens of Shook Hardy & Bacon, suggested that over on Capitol Hill, “the new congressional leadership provides a reason for optimism that there will be increased attention paid to the disclosure of commercial third-party litigation financing and the involvement of foreign funders in U.S. litigation.” 

Seeking to gain some insight into any provisional policy position that the new administration might hold, The American Lawyer contacted the Trump transition team for a comment. However, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not provide a direct answer to the question, instead emphasizing that Trump had been re-elected “by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail.”