Trending Now
Announcements Fundraising

Leading disruptor in civil litigation finds capital solution to drive unprecedented growth

PURE Business Group (PURE), the multi-discipline legal services business, has today announced a new £multi-million funding facility with Sandfield Capital. PURE, which currently handles over 12,000 new instructions each year, hopes that this move will dramatically accelerate its ability to develop record numbers of cases over the next few years.

The agreement is anticipated to deliver dominant market-share in the volume civil litigation space in PURE’s current six case verticals, plus extend then across four new areas of focus. Combined with planned increases in the coming months, PURE will target 30,000 new cases per year from 2022, whilst more than doubling turnover and profit.

Group CEO, Phil Hodgkinson commented: “Now in our seventh year of trading, I’m proud to say that our business continues to go from strength to strength. Despite the challenges of the global pandemic, we have remained profitable throughout, and continue to break case settlement records month on month. Aside from fuelling a transformational growth in case volumes, the new funding agreement allows us to launch innovative new products and enter new markets, too. The future is incredibly exciting for this business and our colleagues within it.”

Sandfield Capital CEO, Steven D’Ambrosio said: “We are delighted to support PURE in its future. Having run an initial pilot with them from January this year, we have already seen 25% of the total funded book come to settlement resolution. Based upon current data, we will see 100% settlement of the pilot scheme cases within a further six months. That has given us the confidence to extend the facility to a significant eight-figure sum, enabling PURE to increase new case volumes significantly and pursue those cases aggressively on behalf of clients.”

About Pure Business Group

PURE Business Group was created to provide a unique, innovative and collaborative solution to the civil litigation legal sector. Founded in early 2015 by Phil Hodgkinson, and bringing thirty years’ experience within the insurance and legal sector, the group employs in excess of 450 staff in four UK locations. The group comprises a number of complimentary companies, including an ABS-structured barristers chambers and law firm, a technology business, a specialist vetting business, a claims-handling business and multiple marketing brands. Its unique model centres around non-recourse CCA disbursement loans to customers, which are fully insured by a large panel of A-Rated Insurers and Re-Insurers. This model allows us to concentrate its own cash flow on business growth and taking on new cases. It can also litigate in volume, without constraint, against any defendants who refuse to come to the table and settle valid cases in a reasonable and timely manner.

Sandfield Capital has been designed to support individuals pursuing legal claims and facilitate their access to justice. It was launched in 2020 by Steven D’Ambrosio, a former Finance Director at Close Brothers Premium Finance, who has conceived and built a number of highly-successful ventures in the financial and legal sectors and remains extremely passionate about creating and tailoring funding solutions. Sandfield works directly with accredited legal firms to ensure that all clients achieve the best possible outcome, complimented by straight forward, innovative products that support their legal cases.

Announcements

View All
Announcements Commercial Legal Innovation

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.

Announcements Commercial

NorthWall Capital Hits €2.9 B AUM on Private Credit Momentum

By John Freund |

NorthWall Capital has rocketed past €2.9 billion in assets under management after pulling in an additional €1.6 billion of institutional capital in 2025 alone. The London-based alternative credit manager says the surge reflects allocators’ intensifying hunt for scaled, multi-strategy platforms as Europe’s banks retrench and borrowers seek bespoke sources of credit.

A press release from NorthWall Capital details first-close totals across four distinct strategies. The flagship Credit Opportunities fund secured €731 million—already eclipsing its prior vintage—while the newly launched Senior Lending vehicle raised $503 million, translating to roughly $750 million of deployable firepower once leverage is applied. Asset-Backed Opportunities collected €252 million for collateral-rich loans in sectors underserved by traditional lenders, and the specialist Legal Assets platform locked down $169 million to extend the firm’s law-firm lending programme.

Founder and CIO Fabian Chrobog said the fundraising validates “the consistency of our approach” and NorthWall’s ability to craft solutions that resonate with investors and counterparties alike. With headcount slated to hit 40 by year-end, the firm plans to lean further into complex, situational credit born of bank deleveraging, regulatory shifts and sponsors’ need for certainty of execution.

Announcements Commercial 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.