Trending Now
Announcements Commercial Fundraising

FirmPilot Closes $11.7 Million in Total Funding with Strategic Investments From Legal and Marketing Tech Leaders

By Harry Moran |

FirmPilot, the AI marketing engine for law firms, today announced that Thomson Reuters Ventures and HubSpot Ventures have joined as investors, backing the company’s mission to help law firms generate more and higher-value clients with AI rather than rely on traditional, manual marketing tactics. This strategic funding increases FirmPilot’s total funding to $11.7M, following the company’s Series A round in 2024 led by Blumberg Capital, an early investor in marketing tech leaders such as Braze (Nasdaq: BRZE) and DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV).

“We are delighted to partner with FirmPilot,” said Tamara Steffens, Managing Director of Thomson Reuters Ventures. “They have built an AI product that empowers law firms to effectively communicate their value proposition and enhance their visibility to potential clients. The overwhelmingly positive customer feedback they have received speaks volumes, and we are excited to support this exceptional team.”

FirmPilot uses AI to empower law firms to efficiently increase online visibility and grow inbound interest from prospective clients searching online for legal help. Every hour, more than 1,000 people in the U.S. search online for legal help, and 75% of people searching online don’t scroll past the first page of results. Law firms, as well as other services-based SMBs such as dentists, plumbers, electricians, veterinarians, and chiropractors, rely on online search and other digital marketing channels as their primary source of customer acquisition, and FirmPilot’s all-in-one solution has enabled these businesses to thrive with AI data-driven SEO, PPC, and social media that does not involve the manual guesswork of traditional marketing agencies.

For the 425K+ law firms in the U.S., legacy practices of retaining traditional marketing agencies or manually managing marketing channels are often costly, low ROI and not built for busy, non-marketing professionals.

In just the past year, nearly one hundred modern law firms across the U.S. adopted an AI-driven approach to marketing with FirmPilot to:

  • Generate 180%+ more leads using data-informed web content and ads
  • Improve client and case quality with intelligent targeting
  • Reduce cost and wasted time by eliminating the manual guesswork of traditional law firm marketing

“What excites us about FirmPilot is their focus on solving a critical pain point for small business owners end-to-end. FirmPilot has demonstrated the ability to deliver cost-effective leads to law firms with minimal involvement, and we’re confident in their ability to bring this to new industries over time,” said Adam Coccari, Managing Director of HubSpot Ventures. “We’re looking forward to working with the FirmPilot team as they continue empowering SMBs to drive growth through AI-powered marketing.”

FirmPilot’s proprietary AI legal marketing engine takes an “X-ray” of a firm’s competitive landscape, analyzing trends and patterns in the SEO, Ads, and other digital marketing activity of a client’s competitors. FirmPilot’s clients have outperformed and outranked other firms to increase lead volume and improve lead quality. The company’s proprietary AI knowledge model learns from a comprehensive database of more than 3,000+ relevant legal cases and has analyzed more than 5,000,000 pieces of content used by law firms. With a growing and evolving set of data, the FirmPilot AI marketing engine continues to learn, train and improve its algorithms in high-demand consumer law areas such as personal injury, workers’ compensation, family (divorce, custody), immigration and criminal defense. Partnering with Thomson Reuters and HubSpot Ventures provides a huge opportunity to expand FirmPilot’s data strategy for its AI models.

“It’s been incredible to witness the shift in the legal industry, where firm owners are no longer just focused on practicing law or building successful firms—they also aim to build great companies and lead not only as attorneys but also as CEOs,” said Jake Soffer, founder and CEO of FirmPilot. “This evolution demands that they move faster and more strategically, and the suite of AI tools now available to the legal field is enabling firms to accomplish exponentially more in a fraction of the time it once took.”

About FirmPilot

FirmPilot is the leader in AI Legal Marketing. FirmPilot’s patent-pending AI Legal Marketing Execution Engine provides companies with a modern way to grow their firm with strategies built entirely on data and intelligence. The company is backed by leading investors such as Blumberg Capital, HubSpot Ventures, Thomson Reuters Ventures, Valor Ventures, SaaS Ventures, FJ Labs, and Connexa Capital. Learn more about FirmPilot: www.FirmPilot.com.

About the author

Harry Moran

Harry Moran

Announcements

View All
Announcements Comercial People Moves

Victory Park Expands Legal Credit Leadership with Maleson Promotion

By John Freund |

Victory Park Capital (VPC), a global alternative asset manager specializing in private credit, has announced that Justin Maleson will expand his role to Managing Director, co-heading the firm’s legal credit investment strategy. The promotion underscores VPC’s ongoing investment in its legal finance capabilities and follows Maleson’s initial appointment in 2024 as Assistant General Counsel.

An announcement from Victory Park Capital details Maleson’s new responsibilities, which include sourcing, analyzing, and managing investments across legal assets, while maintaining oversight of the firm’s legal operations. He joins Chad Clamage in co-leading the strategy, working alongside team members Hugo Lestiboudois and Andrew Pascal, under the continued oversight of VPC CEO and founder Richard Levy.

Maleson brings a strong background in litigation finance and commercial law to the position. Before joining VPC, he served as a director at Longford Capital, where he specialized in originating and managing litigation funding transactions. His earlier tenure as a litigation partner at Jenner & Block further deepened his exposure to complex legal matters, equipping him with the expertise needed to navigate the nuanced legal credit space.

VPC’s legal credit team emphasizes an asset-backed lending model, prioritizing downside protection and predictable income streams. The firm aims to capitalize on inefficiencies within the legal funding market by leveraging its internal expertise and broad network of relationships. With Maleson’s appointment, VPC signals its intent to further scale its legal credit strategy, positioning itself as a key player in the evolving legal finance sector.

Maleson’s elevation comes at a time of increasing sophistication in litigation finance, where experienced legal minds are playing a pivotal role in portfolio construction and risk management. As VPC bolsters its leadership, the move may foreshadow further institutionalization of legal asset investing and heightened competition in a maturing market segment.

Announcements Consumer

Golden Pear Upsizes Corporate Note to $78.7M Amid Growth Plans

By John Freund |

Golden Pear Funding has extended and upsized its investment-grade corporate note to $78.7 million, further bolstering the firm's capacity to serve the expanding litigation finance sector. The New York-based funder, a national leader in both pre-settlement and medical receivables financing, said the proceeds will support working capital and fuel strategic growth initiatives.

A press release from Golden Pear outlines how the capital raise reflects continued investor confidence in the firm’s business model. CEO Gary Amos noted that the infusion is critical as Golden Pear seeks to scale alongside the “rapidly expanding litigation finance market.” CFO Daniel Amsellem added that the new funding aligns with the company’s capital allocation strategy, aimed at optimizing operational efficiency and executing strategic projects.

Brean Capital, LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor and sole placement agent on the transaction.

Founded in 2008, Golden Pear has funded more than $1.1 billion to over 87,000 clients and remains one of the largest specialty finance companies in the U.S. Its business model spans legal case funding and medical receivables purchasing, with backing from a network of private equity partners that provide institutional support for continued expansion.

Announcements Regulatory Issues

LionFish Updates Model Documents in Response to CJC Report

By John Freund |

LionFish Litigation Finance Ltd has released a new suite of model litigation funding documents, updating its original set from February 2021. The revision comes on the heels of the Civil Justice Council's (CJC) Final Report on Litigation Funding, issued on 2 June 2025, which calls for a regulatory structure informed by best practices, including key principles published by the European Law Institute (ELI) in October 2024.

A LionFish press release details that the updated suite incorporates several of the ELI Principles (notably 4-12) and broader CJC recommendations, except where doing so would require legislative or procedural reform. LionFish's goal, according to Managing Director Tets Ishikawa, is not to dictate market norms but to foster industry-wide standardisation and efficiency. This proactive move is also intended to spark further collaboration between funders, insurers, and legal practitioners to develop trade practices akin to those in mature financial markets, such as those promoted by the Loan Market Association and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

The new suite includes three core documents: a litigation funding agreement, a priorities deed to define proceeds distribution, and an assignment deed for insurance benefits. Notably, LionFish has also added documentation for co-investment arrangements, reflecting a growing trend in syndicated funding deals. The funder has already closed seven such transactions.

Managing Director Tanya Lansky emphasised that while litigation funding remains complex, making documentation public enhances transparency and facilitates quicker deal closings—an essential factor for sustaining market growth.

As litigation finance continues to mature, this move by LionFish highlights a shift toward professionalisation and standardisation. With regulators increasingly focused on transparency and fairness, such initiatives may set a de facto benchmark for others in the industry. The question remains: will other funders follow suit, or will regulatory mandates be needed to compel alignment?