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Community Spotlight: Viren Mascarenhas, Partner, Milbank

By John Freund |

Community Spotlight: Viren Mascarenhas, Partner, Milbank

Viren is a Partner in Milbank’s New York office where he leads the international arbitration practice in the US.  He specializes in international arbitration (construction, commercial, and investment arbitration) as well as enforcement of awards and judgments in U.S. courts. 

He has nearly two decades of experience acting as counsel for parties in a broad range of industries, with a particular focus on energy and mining disputes. His investment treaty experience includes representing investors in disputes against Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, and Venezuela.  He has advised litigation funders on whether to underwrite prospective matters and also obtained litigation funding for his clients.  He sits as arbitrator in commercial arbitrations and teaches international arbitration at Columbia Law School. 

Viren has been recognized for his accomplishments in international arbitration by Chambers GlobalChambers USALegal 500Who’s Who Legal: ArbitrationThe Best Lawyers in America:  International ArbitrationEuromoney (commercial arbitration), Latinvex (disputes in Latin America), Law360 (energy disputes), Lawdragon (500 Leading Global Litigators, 2021, 2023, 2024), The New York Law JournalCrain’s Business New York,The LGBT Bar Association, the South Asian Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.  His client reviews in Chambers include, “Viren is talented, smart, and quick on his feet.  He is a lawyer you want in your corner”; “His attention to detail and commitment made him stand out – he was always thinking of next steps and briefing us often”; “Viren is bright, capable and a really strong advocate.”  Legal 500 identified Milbank as one of three firms to watch in the international arbitration space, noting, “Milbank continues to grow its profile in international arbitration since the late 2022 arrival of Viren Mascarenhas.  The team is particularly noted for its activity in the energy and infrastructure areas.”

Company Name and Description:  Milbank LLP is an international law firm headquartered in New York with offices in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Beijing, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, and Singapore.  Chambers USA ranks Milbank in Band 1 for a range of practices, including Bankruptcy/Restructuring, Capital Markets, Metals & Mining, Projects, and Transportation.

Company Website: www.milbank.com

Year Founded:  1866.  Company rebranded to Milbank in 2019.

Headquarters:  New York

Area of Focus: Milbank is a full services international law firm.  Viren is a member of the Litigation & Arbitration Practice Group.

Member Quote:  “Litigation funders want lawyers who can chart a course of action from filing a claim to collecting on the award/judgment, and then engage with the wide variety of players involved (client, opposing counsel, co-counsel, witnesses, experts, investigators, the adjudicators, and the funders themselves!) to make it happen.”

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John Freund

John Freund

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Funders Court Private Credit Investment

By John Freund |

A sharp pivot is underway in litigation finance as funders increasingly court the private credit market amid waning interest from traditional backers.

An article in Law Gazette details how funders, faced with reduced appetite from pension and endowment funds due to rising interest rates and macroeconomic volatility, are now tapping into the $1.7 trillion private credit sector—comprising non-bank lenders known for backing complex, high-yield opportunities. At Brown Rudnick’s European litigation funding conference last week, executives from Rocade, Therium, and others dissected the sector’s evolving funding landscape.

Brian Roth, CEO of Rocade LLC, emphasized that litigation finance offers the kind of complexity private credit thrives on. “We’re looking for assets that are complex or hard to source… [that offer] a ‘complexity premium,’” Roth said, adding that insurance-wrapped and yield-segmented portfolios could make the space even more appealing to credit investors.

Therium Capital Management co-founder Neil Purslow—whose flagship fund is now in runoff—recently launched Therium Capital Advisors to help bridge the gap between funders and private credit. Purslow noted that while capital is plentiful, accessing it requires sophisticated structuring to meet private lenders’ expectations. “It’s very bespoke,” he said. “This pool of investors… think very specifically about their strategy.”

Not all industry voices are convinced. Soryn IP’s Michael Gulliford warned that litigation finance must deliver returns consistent with private credit norms, or risk being shunned. Meanwhile, Balance Legal Capital’s Robert Rothkopf and Harbour Litigation Funding’s Susan Dunn raised alarms over new players using questionable financial structures and attracting inexperienced investors.

The shift toward private credit could redefine how litigation finance structures deals, raises capital, and manages risk. But the influx of new money—especially if poorly vetted—may also invite instability. As private credit steps into the void, funders must weigh innovation against the risk of diluting industry standards.

Yield Bridge Asset Management Launches into Litigation Finance

By John Freund |

The London‑based asset manager Yield Bridge Asset Management (Yield Bridge) has announced its entry into the litigation financing arena, marking a strategic shift into the private‑credit sector of the legal‑funding landscape.

According to a press release in OpenPR, Yield Bridge has entered into several strategic partnerships in the international arbitration space, granting the firm ongoing access to “vetted, insurance‑wrapped Litigation and Private Credit asset programs.”

In detailing the strategy, Yield Bridge highlights litigation finance as a rapidly growing asset class. The release states that high costs in international arbitration often create an uneven battlefield—where financial strength outweighs merits. Litigation funding, the firm argues, offers a counterbalance. It points to “Litigation Finance Bonds” as their preferred investment vehicle—emphasizing 100% capital protection, attractive yields, and short-duration liquidity windows for accredited investors. The firm claims to target structured portfolios of multiple claims (versus single-case investments) to diversify risk and leverage economies of scale. Cases “displaying pre‑determined characteristics and a potential 8–10× multiple” are cited as typical targets.

Yield Bridge positions itself as a “leading international financial services intermediary … bringing together multi‑asset expertise with targeted investment propositions.” While the announcement is light on detailed track record or specific claim‑portfolios, the firm is formally signalling its ambitions in the litigation finance space.

Yield Bridge’s pivot underscores a broader trend: litigation finance moving deeper into structured, institutional‑grade private‑credit models. By packaging multiple claims and targeting returns familiar in alternative‑credit strategies, firms like Yield Bridge are raising the bar—and potentially the competition—for players in the legal‑funding ecosystem. This development raises questions about how deal flow will scale, how returns will be verified, and how risk will be managed in portfolio‑based litigation funding.

Home Office-Funded Class Action Against Motorola Gets Green Light

By John Freund |

In a significant development for UK collective actions, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has granted a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) in the landmark case Spottiswoode v Airwave Solutions & Motorola. The case—brought by Clare Spottiswoode CBE—accuses Motorola of abusing its dominant position in the UK's emergency services network by charging excessive prices through its Airwave network, which the Home Office claims resulted in £1.1 billion in overcharges to UK taxpayers.

According to iclg, the class action is being funded by the UK Home Office itself, which is also the complainant in an associated CMA enforcement action. In its judgment, the CAT concluded that Spottiswoode is an appropriate class representative, and that the claim—which covers a proposed class of over 100,000 public service bodies—is suitable for collective proceedings. The case will proceed on an opt-out basis for UK entities, with opt-in available for overseas claimants.

The Tribunal emphasized that funding by a government department does not compromise the independence of the class representative, and that the Home Office’s funding arrangement complies with legal and procedural requirements. Notably, the judgment paves the way for governmental entities to play a dual role—as both complainant and funder—in future competition-based collective actions.

This case raises fascinating implications for the legal funding industry. It challenges traditional notions of third-party funders and opens the door to more creative and strategic funding models initiated by government entities themselves, particularly in cases with broad public interest and regulatory overlap.