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Harvard Law Students Marlon Becerra and Shao-Jia Chang Selected for Validity Finance’s 2021 Equal Access Fellowship

Harvard Law Students Marlon Becerra and Shao-Jia Chang Selected for Validity Finance’s 2021 Equal Access Fellowship

Leading litigation funder Validity Finance has selected Harvard law students Marlon Becerra and Shao-Jia Chang for its 2021 Equal Access Fellowship. The program, in its third year, provides a 10-week paid summer fellowship to first-year law students of diverse backgrounds.

The Equal Access Fellows spend the first half of their summer at Validity learning basic principles of litigation funding, and the second half working at a legal non-profit of their choice. Validity, which covers Fellows’ salary for the entire 10-week program, is one of the only litigation funders to provide such a program for first-year law students.

Mr. Becerra and Ms. Chang will both work at Validity for the first five weeks of their fellowship, from June 1 through July 3. They will assist in analyzing potential case investments, participating in meetings with claimants and lawyers, and conducting legal research on topics related to litigation and dispute funding. Like many major law firms, Validity is introducing a hybrid return to work, mixing in-person visits to its New York office with remote work, as the rest of its team has been doing in recent months.

“We’re proud to have Marlon and Shao join us as Equal Access Fellows for the summer of 2021,” said Validity Finance founder and CEO Ralph Sutton. “Both have outstanding backgrounds, including personal histories that may not have suggested they’d end up at one of the nation’s top law schools. We’re also pleased to have arrived at a point in the pandemic where we can offer an in-person experience for Marlon and Shao.” The two Fellows were chosen from a pool of 36 applicants from 18 top-tier law schools. Candidates submitted academic transcripts and essays addressing their interest in litigation funding and describing how they have overcome personal challenges. 

Mr. Sutton commented, “Given the past year’s events — pandemic-related and in terms of social justice — there is a heightened need for young lawyers interested in helping to expand equal access to the civil justice system, which is one of Validity’s core mandates as a litigation funder.”

About Equal Access Fellow Marlon Becerra

A native of Jackson Heights, New York, Marlon was the first member of his family to attend college. He obtained his B.A. in Economics from Political Science from Hampshire College and is now a rising second year student at Harvard Law.

Having to return to New York in the middle of his first year of law school, Marlon created an initiative called Civic Engagement and Social Justice for Legal Outreach, Inc. The non-profit teaches New York City high school students of color how to be more proactive leaders in addressing social issues. “As many of the students come from the inner-city, they are particularly interested in addressing the obstacles preventing them from having an equal opportunity to succeed in high school and in college,” he wrote in his personal statement. “I partnered with attorneys from firms across the city to support the students’ efforts to develop and implement campaigns to address their social justice issues.” During the summer of 2020, Marlon worked for the NYC Department of Social Services’ Employment Law Division. As he notes, “I had the opportunity to write a memorandum recommending how COVID-19 guidelines will impact the agencies’ accommodation policies. I saw the importance of considering people’s access to resources and justice, as we focused on urgent issues impacting one of the city’s largest agencies that both hires and serves primarily minority communities.” At Harvard, Marlon is a member and Section Representative of the law school’s chapter of the American Constitutional Society for Law and Policy, which promotes progressive legal change in order to realize economic and social justice. He is also a member of La Alianza, a student-run organization composed of Latinx and Latin American students interested in issues affecting the Latinx community at Harvard Law, and a member of HLS First Class, a student affinity group for first generation law students.

About Equal Access Fellow Shao Chang Shao Chang grew up in a rural Northern California town of only 4,500 residents, where she notes, “few families lock their front doors, and many people proudly leave their keys in the ignition.” She writes of frequent bias against her own parents and her own early struggles with proficiency in English. Shao obtained her B.A. in Psychology and Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017. She received Dean’s Honors and Highest Honors in Legal Studies, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Following college, Shao spent several years as a field representative and aide for Napa-area Congressman Mike Thompson. She recalled taking on projects and facing circumstances that were considered too difficult to accomplish in rural parts of the district, which included her hometown. Motivated by a desire to increase equity and access, she asserts, “I did not believe that infeasibility is a reason not to try, especially when it came to the neediest area in the district.” 

At Harvard Law, Shao is the External Vice President of the school’s Mock Trial Association and Willem C. Vis Moot Team, and is a sub-citer for the Harvard Journal on Legislation and the Harvard Negotiation Law Review. She is also a member of the Social Committee of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association at Harvard, a member of the Reproductive Justice Team of the Mississippi Delta Project at Harvard, and serves on the board of the Women’s Law Association.

About Validity Validity is a commercial litigation finance company that provides non-recourse investments for a wide variety of commercial disputes. Validity’s mission is to make a meaningful difference in our clients’ experience of the legal system. We focus on fairness, innovation, and clarity. For more, visit www.validityfinance.com

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Burford’s Q2 Profits Surge on New Capital

By John Freund |

Burford Capital has delivered its strongest quarterly performance in two years, buoyed by a swelling pipeline of high-value disputes and a fresh infusion of investor cash.

A press release in PR Newswire reveals that the New York- and London-listed funder more than doubled revenue and profitability in the three months to 30 June 2025. CEO Christopher Bogart credited “very substantial levels of new business” for the uptick, noting that demand for non-recourse financing remains “as strong as we’ve ever seen.”

The stellar quarter follows a lightning-quick, two-day debt offering in July that raised $500 million—capital Burford says will be deployed across a growing roster of commercial litigations, international arbitrations, and asset-recovery campaigns. Management also highlighted significant progress in portfolio rotations, underscoring the firm’s ability to monetise older positions while writing new ones at scale. Investors will get a deeper dive when Burford hosts its earnings call today at 9 a.m. EDT.

Burford’s results arrive amid heightened regulatory chatter in Washington and Westminster, yet the numbers suggest the industry’s largest player is unfazed—for now—by talk of disclosure mandates and tax levies. The firm emphasised that its legal-finance, risk-management and asset-recovery businesses remain uncorrelated to broader markets, a pitch that continues to resonate with pension funds and endowments hunting for alternative yield.

For litigation-finance insiders, Burford’s capital-raising prowess and improving margins could have ripple effects: rival funders may face stiffer competition for marquee cases, while law-firm partners might leverage the firm’s deeper pockets to negotiate richer portfolio deals.

International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) Announces End of Year Gala and Inaugural Legal Finance Awards

By John Freund |

 The International Legal Finance Association is pleased to announce its annual End-of-Year Gala Dinner on November 13, 2025.  The event will take place at The Law Society in London, bringing together leading figures from across the legal finance industry for an evening of celebration and reflection on the year’s achievements.  

The dinner will be accompanied by the inaugural Legal Finance Awards.  The awards are designed to recognize and honor excellence across the legal finance ecosystem. They will spotlight the achievements of funders, law firms, brokers, advisors, and other key contributors to the continued growth and innovation of the industry. Nominations for the awards are now open, with the nomination form available here

“The Gala Dinner is a chance for our members and guests to gather in person and celebrate the progress we've made over the year,” said Rupert Cunningham, Global Director of Growth and Membership Engagement at ILFA. “We are especially excited to launch the Legal Finance Awards, which will shine a light on the outstanding work and impact of professionals across our field.”

Tickets for the Gala are on sale now, with discounted pricing available for ILFA members.  More information can be found here.

Sentry Expands Free Funding Market Search for Litigators

By John Freund |

Sentry Funding’s free tool enabling litigators to instantly search the funding market on behalf of clients has been expanded.

Sentry’s free ‘decision in principle’ feature enables lawyers to evidence to clients that they have conducted a broad market search, even if funding is not ultimately taken out.

Having deployed £125m in funding across a range of case types, Sentry now has access to an even broader funding marketplace, covering 34 global jurisdictions. Finance is provided by 13 funders, five of which are members of the Association of Litigation Funders.

With the recent addition of Sentry’s first US-based funder, the US offering will now be expanding over the next few months. 

A faster process

Sentry has deployed the latest technology to make the search for funding even easier. 

  • The intuitive application process now only asks questions relevant to previous answers, saving lawyers time.
  • The commercial marketplace has been redeveloped with 63 new data points added to the funder criteria matrix - improving the accuracy of case / funder matching
  • Sentry has also begun building out its AI capabilities, starting with an automated auditing tool for live case progression audits. 

Tom Webster, chief executive officer at Sentry Funding, said:

‘By broadening our reach and speeding up the process, we’re making it even easier for lawyers to raise funding. We’re also giving litigators an easy way to show clients they have fully researched the market, rather than just approaching one or two funders. 

‘The service is free to use, so even if clients decide they do not ultimately want funding or if none is available for that case, for the lawyer, it makes sense to use our “decision in principle” feature, so they can put evidence on file that they did check the market.’

Sentry Funding is an SaaS (software as a service) technology provider that gives solicitors access to a diverse marketplace of litigation funders. It works with solicitors, funders and third-party providers to ensure claimants are getting the most efficient service for their funding needs. 

The Sentry Portal also acts as a case management system that runs a transparent digital case file for solicitors, funders, after-the-event insurance providers, barristers, cost lawyers and other relevant third parties.