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ILFA Names New Chairman, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee

May 2, 2022

ILFA Names New Chairman, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee

The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) today announced its new board of directors, executive committee members, and Chairman.

“As legal finance matures, ILFA’s role as the voice of the industry is critical to communicating how litigation finance benefits society and business by supporting the rule of law across the world,” said Gary Barnett, Executive Director of ILFA. “I am thrilled to announce our new Board—led by Therium’s Neil Purslow, that will help to shape the future of this global industry.”

“I also want to thank our outgoing launch Chairman Leslie Perrin for his service and dedication to our association and the industry at-large. Under his leadership, we have successfully transitioned to a new organizational structure, one that well positions ILFA as the voice of the global legal finance industry. I further appreciate his willingness to provide, and look forward to, his continued counsel as we move forward.”

Neil Purslow, Chairman of ILFA said: “It is an honour to take over as Chairman of ILFA from Leslie who is one of the pioneers of legal finance and I am grateful for his continued commitment to shaping the future of this important industry.  I look forward to working with Gary, fellow board members and colleagues across the industry to support the continued growth and sustainable development of legal finance so that it can continue to provide much needed capital solutions and investment in the law.”

The Board of Directors is comprised of members who serve on a volunteer basis and includes senior leaders and founders of global commercial legal finance companies. The Board members include:

  • Jonathan Barnes, Chief Operating Officer at Woodsford Group Ltd.
  • Christopher Bogart, Chief Executive Officer at Burford Capital
  • Christopher DeLise, Chief Executive Officer at Delta Capital
  • Susan Dunn, Co-Founder at Harbour Litigation Funding
  • Allen Fagin, Board Member and Senior Advisor at Validity Finance
  • William P. Farrell, Jr., Managing Director and General Counsel at Longford Capital
  • David Gallagher, Senior Vice President at D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P.
  • Ian Garrard, Managing Director at Innsworth Advisors
  • David Icikson, Chief Operating Officer at Parabellum
  • Kevin McCaffrey, Chief Executive Officer at Law Finance Group
  • Hassan Murphy, Managing Partner at TRGP Investment Partners LP
  • Jack Neumark, Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group
  • Neil Purslow, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Therium
  • Andrew Saker, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Omni Bridgeway
  • Marcel Wegmüller, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer at Nivalion

The Board of Directors named the following executive committee members:

  • Chairman: Neil Purslow co-founded Therium in 2008 and is the firm’s Chief Investment Officer. A solicitor with over 22 years’ experience, he was previously Litigation Counsel in-house for Marsh & MacLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC), prior to which he was in practice in the City of London with US firm Reed Smith and Withers. Neil has led investments in litigation and arbitration valued in excess of $15 billion, including many of the largest and most high-profile funded cases in the market. He is also a founding board member of the Association of Litigation Funders, the self-regulatory body for the industry in England and Wales and is regularly invited to speak at conferences and quoted in the media on issues related to the industry. Since it was first published in 2018, Neil has been consistently recognized as a leading individual in the litigation funding industry by Chambers and Partners. He gained an MA in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford in 1995.
  • Officers: Christopher DeLise is the Chief Executive Officer of Delta Capital. Previously, Mr. DeLise was an Equity Partner at K&L Gates LLP his practice focused on representing investment funds, financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, and institutional and individual investors in matters ranging from fund formation and governance to compliance, and from cross-border M&A and strategic and financing transactions to all facets of starting, operating and selling technology companies. Mr. DeLise also served as Chairman of the Private Investment Funds practice group at Husch Blackwell LLP, and prior to that was an attorney in the private equity practice group of DLA Piper LLP. In 2008, he was one of only 86 attorneys in the U.S. named to the BTI M&A Transactional All-Star Team based on a survey of Fortune 1000 companies, and in 2011 he was named a 2011 Illinois Super Attorney by his legal peers.
    • Susan Dunn is co-founder of Harbour Litigation Funding and is one of the most experienced and well-known professionals in the funding sector. A pioneer of litigation funding in the UK, Susan has been sourcing and investing for over 15 years’ and during this time has provided significant input to the development of public policy. Susan was a founding member of the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales, and continues to play an important role with this body. Susan has previously worked as a litigator in the UK and the US where she was also a diplomat (Vice-Consul Investment), for the British Government.
    • Jack Neumark is a Managing Director, serving on the investment committee for the Credit Funds. Mr. Neumark also heads the Legal Assets Group of the Credit Funds Business at Fortress Investment Group LLC and is a member of the management committee of Fortress. Prior to joining Fortress, Mr. Neumark was a Senior Vice President at Plainfield Asset Management, a large-distressed debt hedge fund based in Greenwich, CT where he was involved in distressed debt and special situations investments.  Mr. Neumark also previously practiced law at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in the restructuring and finance group, and at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP in the corporate group.
    • Andrew Saker is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Omni Bridgeway and is based in the New York office. Andrew was a partner at a leading provider of corporate recovery, insolvency management and restructuring services throughout Australia and Asia for 16 years.  During this period, he managed the Indonesian and Perth operations and assisted with billion-dollar cross-border restructuring assignments throughout the world including in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, China, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Europe, the US and Canada.  Mr Saker has managed hundreds of large claims across a range of industries including mining, telecommunications, energy, aquaculture, property, manufacturing, infrastructure, banking and finance.
    • Marcel Wegmüller is a co-founder and co-CEO of Nivalion. Marcel has over 10 years’ experience in international disputes funding and established and led the first Swiss litigation funder. Previously, he held various senior positions at Credit Suisse Group. He holds a master’s in law degree from the University of Zurich, is admitted to the Swiss bar and has completed executive programs at INSEAD and London Business School (LBS). He is recognized by Who’s Who Legal as a Thought Leader in Third Party Funding and by Lawdragon as an outstanding litigation funder.

ILFA also recently announced Delta Capital Partners Management LLC, a U.S.-based private equity and advisory firm specializing in litigation finance, judgment enforcement, asset recovery, and related strategies, as its newest member.

About 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 global 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 is incorporated in Washington, DC, and will have chapter representation around the world. For more information, visit www.ilfa.com and find us on Twitter @ILFA_Official and LinkedIn.

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Apex Group Ltd Selected to Support Seven Stars Legal Group Ltd’s Pioneering Tokenised Litigation Fund in Dubai

By John Freund |

Apex Group Ltd (“Apex Group”), one of the world's largest fund administration and solutions providers, today announced it has been selected to provide fund administration and digital asset infrastructure for the anticipated Seven Stars Legal Group Ltd (“Seven Stars”) Tokenised Litigation Fund, a pioneering investment vehicle that will combine institutional-grade litigation finance with blockchain technology.

The proposed fund, targeting GBP 50-250 million in commitments with an anticipated first close of GBP 50 million by March 31, 2026, represents a significant innovation in alternative investments. Once launched, the tokenised structure is expected to reduce traditional investment minimums from GBP 1 million to GBP 50,000, making institutional-quality litigation finance accessible to a broader range of qualified investors.

Subject to regulatory approvals and successful fund structuring, Apex Group is positioned to provide comprehensive fund administration services, while its digital asset platform, Apex Digital 3.0 (including Tokeny), would handle the token issuance and management infrastructure. This dual capability positions Apex Group as the sole provider managing both traditional fund administration and digital asset components under one unified platform.

Upon launch, Seven Stars will act as Investment Manager responsible for portfolio selection and management.

“Our selection to support Seven Stars' innovative fund structure exemplifies our commitment to bridging traditional finance with digital innovation,” said Agnes Mazurek, Global Head of Digital Assets at Apex Group. “By providing both conventional fund administration and tokenisation infrastructure, we're positioned to help fund managers unlock new distribution channels and operational efficiencies while maintaining institutional-grade governance and compliance standards.”

Offering up to a capped 16% annual return backed by diversified UK litigation portfolios, Seven Stars brings significant experience to the venture, having already deployed over GBP 44 million in UK litigation finance and funded more than 56,000 legal claims with a proven track record of performance, together with a team which includes leading Silk, Louis Doyle KC, who sits on the board and Advisory Committee at Seven Stars.

“Apex Group's expertise in both traditional fund administration and digital assets makes them the ideal partner for this groundbreaking initiative,” said Leon Clarance, Chief Strategy Officer at Seven Stars. "Their infrastructure will enable us to deliver the operational efficiency gains of tokenisation while maintaining the rigorous compliance and reporting standards our institutional investors expect.”

Mazurek added: “We are pleased to be supporting Seven Stars in this groundbreaking project. Our mission at Apex Group is to help clients bridge the TradFi and DeFi universes and this project perfectly represents this connectivity.”

Planned Partnership Capabilities

The anticipated partnership would leverage several key Apex Group capabilities:

  • Fund Administration: NAV calculation, investor services, and regulatory reporting 
  • Digital Asset Infrastructure: Token issuance, custody, and lifecycle management via Apex Digital 3.0
  • Regulatory Compliance: Full regulatory oversight and compliance monitoring 
  • Investor Onboarding: Streamlined KYC/AML processes for both traditional and digital investors

The proposed tokenised structure would enable secondary trading after a 6-month lock-in period, providing liquidity options traditionally unavailable in litigation finance funds. Smart contract automation is projected to reduce administrative costs by up to 90%, with anticipated savings passed through to investors.

This announcement follows Apex Group's recent expansion of its digital asset capabilities in the DIFC, positioning the firm as a leader in supporting the convergence of traditional finance and blockchain technology in the Middle East's premier financial hub.

About Apex Group

Apex Group is dedicated to driving positive change in financial services while supporting the growth and ambitions of asset managers, allocators, financial institutions, and family offices. Established in Bermuda in 2003, the Group has continually disrupted the industry through its investment in innovation and talent.

Today, Apex Group sets the pace in fund and asset servicing and stands out for its unique single-source solution and unified cross asset-class platform which supports the entire value chain, harnesses leading innovative technology, and benefits from cross-jurisdictional expertise delivered by a long-standing management team and over 13,000 highly integrated professionals.   

Apex Group leads the industry with a broad and unmatched range of services, including capital raising, business and corporate management, fund and investor administration, portfolio and investment administration, ESG, capital markets and transactions support. These services are tailored to each client and are delivered both at the Group level and via specialist subsidiary brands.

The Apex Foundation, a not-for-profit entity, is the Group’s passionate commitment to empower sustainable change. 

About Seven Stars Legal

Seven Stars Legal is a specialist litigation finance provider focused on high-volume, precedent-based UK consumer claims. Founded by a team with over GBP 380 million in litigation finance experience, the company provides institutional investors with access to uncorrelated, asset-backed returns through secured lending to regulated UK law firms. Seven Stars has funded over 56,000 claims since 2022, maintaining a zero-default track record through its multi-layered security framework and AI-enhanced due diligence processes

Announcements Commercial

ILFA Welcomes Commissioner McGrath’s Rejection of EU Regulation for Third-Party Litigation Funding

By John Freund |

On 18 November 2025, European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath closed the final meeting of the EU’s High-Level Forum on Justice for Growth with a clear statement that the Commission does not plan new legislation on Third Party Litigation Funding (TPLF). 

He added that Forum participants also indicated that there is no need to further regulate third-party litigation funding.

Instead, Commissioner McGrath said the Commission will prioritise monitoring the implementation of the Representative Actions Directive (RAD) over any new legislative proposals. 

(video from 2.32 here). 

Paul Kong, Executive Director of the International Legal Finance Association (ILFA), said:  “We’re delighted to see Commissioner McGrath’s clear statement that EU regulation for third-party litigation funding is not planned. This appears to close any talk of the need for new regulation, which was completely without evidence and created considerable uncertainty for the sector.

Over several years, ILFA has consistently made the case that litigation funding plays a critical role in ensuring European businesses and consumers can access justice without financial limitations and are not disadvantaged against larger and financially stronger defendants. New legislation would have choked off the availability of financial support to level the playing field for claimants. 

We will continue to work closely with the Commission to share the experiences of our members on the implementation of the RAD across the EU, ensuring it also works for claimants in consumer group actions facing defendants with deep pockets.”

About ILFA

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 global 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 or @ILFA_Official. 

About the High-Level Forum on Justice for Growth

European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath launched the High-Level Forum on Justice for Growth in March 2025 to bring together legal industry experts to “focus on and discuss together how justice policies can contribute to – and further support – European competitiveness and growth”. The final meeting of the Forum took place on 18 November 2025, in Brussels. 

Announcements Commercial

Pogust Goodhead Appoints Jonathan Edward Wheeler as Partner and Head of Mariana Litigation

By John Freund |

Pogust Goodhead law firm has appointed Jonathan Edward Wheeler as a partner and Head of Mariana Litigation, adding heavyweight firepower to the team driving one of the largest group claims in English legal history following the firm’s landmark liability win against BHP in the English courts.

Jonathan joins Pogust Goodhead from Morrison Foerster in London, where he was a leading commercial litigation partner, having served for seven years as office co-managing partner and for 15 years as Head of Litigation. A specialist in complex, cross-border disputes, Jonathan has extensive experience acting in high-value commercial litigation, civil fraud and asset tracing, international trust disputes, contentious insolvency and investigations across multiple jurisdictions.

In his new role, Jonathan will assume strategic leadership of the proceedings arising from the Mariana dam disaster against mining giant BHP, overseeing the continued development of the case into the damages phase and working closely with colleagues in Brazil, the UK, the Netherlands and beyond.

Howard Morris, Chairman at Pogust Goodhead said: “Jonathan is a heavyweight addition to Pogust Goodhead and to our Mariana team. His track record in running some of the most complex cross-border disputes in the English courts, together with his leadership experience, make him exactly the kind of senior figure we need after our historic liability victory. Our clients will benefit enormously from his expertise and judgment.”

Jonathan Wheeler said: “It is a privilege to join Pogust Goodhead at such a pivotal moment in the Mariana case. The recent liability judgment is a watershed for access to justice and corporate accountability. I am honoured to help lead the next phase of this extraordinary litigation and to work alongside a team that has shown such determination in seeking justice for hundreds of thousands of victims.”

Alicia Alinia, CEO at Pogust Goodhead said: “Bringing in lawyers of Jonathan’s calibre is a strategic choice. As we expand the depth and breadth of our disputes practice globally, we are investing in senior talent who can help us deliver justice at scale for our clients and build an even more resilient firm.”

The Mariana proceedings in England involve over 600,000 of Brazilian individuals, businesses, municipalities, religious institutions and Indigenous communities affected by the 2015 Fundão dam collapse in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Following the English court’s decision on liability on the 14th of November 2025, the case will now move into the next stage focused on damages and the quantification of losses on an unprecedented scale.