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ILFA and ALF publish summary response to Civil Justice Council review

By Harry Moran |

ILFA and ALF publish summary response to Civil Justice Council review

ILFA and the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales have submitted a joint response to the Civil Justice Council’s consultation on litigation funding.

Legal experts, representative bodies and law firms have also made their submissions public. While there are – of course – a range of views about the sector and possible reforms, there are two common threads: 

  • Firstly, all contributors are in unanimous agreement that litigation funding is a critical tool in the UK for enabling access to justice, from Sir Alan Bates and the subpostmasters in the Post Office scandal to equal pay for supermarket workers.
  • Secondly, the uncertainty facing the sector because of the 2023 PACCAR judgment is jeapordising that access to justice and must be urgently reversed. In their submission to the CJC, leading Oxford University civil justice academics said “there is a compelling and urgent need to reverse the effects”. The City of London Law Society said “this is an ongoing unsatisfactory state of affairs”. The Class Representatives Network said the current state of uncertainty is “untenable”. The Forum of Complex Injury Solicitors wants to “reinstate the position of prePACCAR”. It goes on. 

ILFA and ALF joint response 

ILFA and ALF’s submission is based on the views of its members who are among the largest and most experienced funders in England and Wales. 

In summary, the views of ILFA and ALF are as follows: 

  1. Litigation funding plays a critical role in enabling access to justice. For many claimants, including consumers and SMEs, it provides the only route to redress. For others, litigation funding allows businesses to use their capital to grow their core business and create jobs instead of tying up budgets for litigation costs.
  2. Litigation funding has worked well in England and Wales. As well as providing access to justice, litigation funding promotes equality of arms between parties. Funding also brings other benefits such as promoting the public interest through exposing corporate wrongdoing, driving good litigation behaviour and supporting the development of English jurisprudence. Commonly stated concerns about litigation funding supporting frivolous or vexatious claims are not supported by evidence; in fact, the evidence is that funders are highly selective in the cases they fund, providing a reality check which benefits parties beyond the funded client and helping direct resources towards meritorious claims.
  3. As well as enabling access to justice, litigation funding has developed into a crucial pillar supporting the UK’s leading global role as a legal and financial centre. To ensure this continues, urgent legislation is needed to address the uncertainty caused by the PACCAR judgment.
  4. In the absence of evidence of harm that needs to be addressed and given the detriment that would be caused by additional regulatory burdens, the current self-regulatory approach strikes the right balance. It will continue to evolve by, for example, potential updates to the ALF Code of Conduct in consultation with the CJC.
  5. Funders’ returns should not be capped. The existing, competitive funding market is best placed to assess and price the many risks involved and the practical effect of an (inflexible) cap would be to make fewer meritorious cases fundable and have a negative effect on access to justice.
  6. Litigation funding helps to control costs (via funder scrutiny and oversight of budgets) but costs are subject to many factors including the defendant’s conduct of the case. Arbitrators have discretion to order that the cost of litigation funding should be recoverable as a cost in proceedings. The courts should have the same discretion.
  7. Recoverability of adverse costs and security for costs applications increase the costs of litigation, costs that are ultimately borne by successful claimants. These costs restrict access to justice and diminish claimants’ net recovery. Permitting flexibility in how adverse cost risk is addressed is beneficial for access to justice.
  8. Funders have less control over proceedings than other third parties that provide economic support for litigation. Concerns relating to control by litigation funders are unfounded.
  9. Beyond representative proceedings in the CAT, there is no need to incur the cost, delay and uncertainty of having the court approve settlements of funded proceedings.
  10. Claimants in funded cases are always represented by lawyers, who owe duties to their client alone, which provides protection for claimants when entering a litigation funding arrangement and throughout their litigation. Measures to address conflicts are adequately reflected in best practices and professional regulation.

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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Harris Pogust Joins Bryant Park Capital as Senior Advisor

By John Freund |

Bryant Park Capital (“BPC”) a leading middle market investment bank and market leader in the litigation finance sector, is pleased to announce that Harris Pogust has joined the firm as a Senior Advisor.  Harris (Mr. Pogust) is one of the best known and prominent attorneys in the mass tort and class action fields, he was the founding partner and Chairman of Pogust Goodhead worldwide until early 2024 and is currently working with Trial Lawyers for a Better Tomorrow, a charity Harris founded, to help children reach their educational potential all over the world.  Harris’ life work has been to deliver justice for those who have been damaged or injured through the negligence or bad faith of others.

“We are thrilled to have Harris as part of our team.  His knowledge, experience and relationships in the litigation finance sector are of great value to Bryant Park and our clients.  As the litigation finance world becomes more competitive, complex and challenging, having an expert like Harris on our team is invaluable,” said Joel Magerman, Managing Partner of Bryant Park.

Harris’ efforts, in conjunction with Bryant Park will focus on assisting law firms and funders in developing strategies to more efficiently fund their operations and cases and assist them in establishing the right relationships for future growth.  Harris commented, “I have been fortunate to have been a practicing attorney and partner in law firms for over 35 years focused on building and growing a worldwide book of business in the class action/mass tort field.  That required significant capital and throughout my career I have raised over $1 billion for my firms.  I have learned what works and what doesn’t.  I have seen both the risks and rewards in this industry.  I look forward to being able to work with law firms and funders to assist them in putting the right strategies in place with Bryant Park and bringing capital and liquidity to help them grow and flourish.”

About Bryant Park Capital

Bryant Park Capital is an investment bank providing capital raising, M&A and corporate finance advisory services to emerging growth and middle market public and private companies. BPC has deep expertise and a diversified, well-founded breadth of experience in a number of sectors, including specialty finance & financial services. BPC has raised various forms of credit, growth equity, and assisted in mergers and acquisitions for its clients. Our professionals have completed more than 400 assignments representing an aggregate transaction value of over $30 billion.

For more information about Bryant Park Capital, please visit www.bryantparkcapital.com.

Therium Capital Advisors Launched to Provide Litigation Finance Advisory Services

By John Freund |

Therium Capital Advisors (TCA) announced today the launch of its independent advisory services business dedicated to helping claimants, law firms and corporates to source, structure and secure litigation finance. TCA offers end-to-end support including funding strategy, investor engagement, financial modelling, deal structuring, ongoing case management and secondary market advisory. Based in London, the firm is advising on deals in the UK, continental Europe and Australia.

Therium Capital Advisors is led by litigation funding pioneer Neil Purslow and co-founded by investment banker Harry Stockdale. Neil has over 16 years of experience in litigation finance, raising capital and investing worldwide across all forms of litigation finance from single cases funding through to portfolio, corporate and law firm funding arrangements. Harry was previously head of UK M&A at investment bank Haitong with twenty years of experience in investment banking, advising law firms and litigation funders on complex financial transactions.  

TCA is the first advisory firm to provide clients with advisory services that are backed by a deep understanding of litigation finance investing coupled with the financial and transactional expertise of investment banking. Therium Capital Advisors bridges the gap between claimants, law firms and corporates on the one side and existing and new sources of institutional capital on the other.  Through the combined expertise of its founders, TCA opens up the investor universe that is available to clients and drives quality in the investment propositions, efficiency in the funding process and competition in the funding market.

TCA exclusively advises claimants, law firms and corporates, ensuring that it remains conflict-free.  The firm advises across the full range of legal assets including single case and portfolio funding, law firm financing, financing options for corporates and existing portfolios of legal assets.   

Neil Purslow, co-founder and Managing Partner of Therium Capital Advisors said: “We are at a pivotal moment in the development of the legal finance industry, given the relative paucity of traditional funding capital available.  However, we are seeing a shift towards new categories of investors in legal assets who want exposure to this uncorrelated asset class. By leveraging our unrivalled experience across both litigation funding and investment banking, we are assisting our clients to navigate this landscape with confidence, speed and understanding, and we provide them with access to a broader set of funding options and to meet their funding needs efficiently and cost effectively.”

Harry Stockdale, co-founder and Partner of Therium Capital Advisors said: “We are bringing an investment banking mind set to the litigation funding world which has developed largely without the benefit of specialist advisors. This professionalisation of the funding process will make the sector more efficient and accessible to a wider audience of investors in addition to the traditional litigation funders. We are already seeing the benefit of this, for both clients and investors alike, and is part of the maturing of litigation finance as an asset class.”

Therium Capital Advisors provides the following services to claimants, law firms and corporates:

  • Deal Preparation: Preparing funding propositions to be investment-ready.
  • Capital Sourcing: Identifying and engaging with suitable funders and capital providers from across the spectrum of legal assets investors.
  • Financial Modelling and Analysis: Providing robust financial modelling and scenario analysis to evaluate deal structures and model returns.
  • Investor Materials and Outreach: Advising on the preparation of investor-facing materials and documentation, inserting rigour and discipline to ensure efficiency in the funding process.
  • Co-Funding: Advising on the identification and engagement of potential co-investors to optimise risk-sharing and capital raising.
  • Negotiating Funding Terms: Leading negotiations with investors to secure terms which balance commercial viability with the interests of the funded party.
  • Deal Structuring and Documentation: Advising on deal structures and overseeing the drafting and execution of all relevant documentation.
  • Post-Funding Case Management: Providing ongoing monitoring, reporting, and servicing support post-funding on behalf of the claimant, to manage risks and support positive case outcomes.
  • Secondary Market Advisory: Advising on secondary transactions of existing legal assets including sub-funding arrangements and exits.

More information can be found at: www.therium.com/theriumcapitaladvisors

Gryphon Law Launches as Contingency-Fee Firm for International Disputes

By John Freund |

A new player is entering the international disputes arena—this time with a distinct twist on legal funding. Gryphon Law has officially launched as the first law firm globally to specialize in contingency-fee representation for cross-border disputes.

Gryphon Law aims to offer an alternative to third-party litigation funding by shouldering the cost of legal claims in return for a share of the outcome. Based in New York and with plans to expand into London and Miami, the firm targets clients who might otherwise turn to traditional funders, offering instead to partner with them directly through performance-based fee structures.

The firm was founded by John Templeman, a seasoned international disputes attorney qualified in New York, England & Wales, and Australia, who previously held roles at leading global law firms. Templeman has assembled a multilingual team capable of handling the full lifecycle of international litigation and arbitration in English, Spanish, and French—from initiation to enforcement. Co-founding the venture is Daura Dutour, an 18-year disputes veteran with experience in the U.S., France, and Haiti, supported by three additional associates.

Templeman stated: "I believe there's a real opportunity in the market to provide clients with an appealing alternative to third party funding, particularly in the sub-US$30 million value range below where many of the funders operate. I've been fortunate to assemble a world-class team of disputes lawyers who share this vision – we're looking forward to contributing to this rapidly evolving field.”

Gryphon Law’s business model suggests a more vertically integrated approach to litigation finance—embedding the funder role within the law firm itself. For clients, this could mean greater alignment of interests, fewer intermediaries, and possibly reduced costs when compared to traditional third-party funding arrangements.