Longford Capital Continues to Add to its Team of Experienced Litigators and Trial Lawyers with the Addition of Marc Cavan as Director

Longford Capital Continues to Add to its Team of Experienced Litigators and Trial Lawyers with the Addition of Marc Cavan as Director

CHICAGO – July 13, 2020 – Longford Capital today announced that Marc A. Cavan has joined the firm asDirector. Mr. Cavan will assist with investment sourcing, due diligence, and monitoring of portfolio investments, supporting Longford’s Chicago and Dallas offices. Mr. Cavan is an experienced patent litigator. He has served as lead counsel for clients in the life sciences, healthcare, and technology industries and has successfully handled patent cases in federal courts throughout the United States. Mr. Cavan’s experience includes jury trials, ANDA Hatch-Waxman litigation, arbitrations, and proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He is registered as a patent attorney with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, and his clients have ranged from start-ups to leading multinationals. Mr. Cavan is also experienced with trade secrets, commercial litigation, and licensing, and he has advised on intellectual property issues for significant mergers and private equity investments. Mr. Cavan’s litigation and counseling expertise has included a range of technologies, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, health care technology, electronic health records, nanotechnology, software, wireless and internet technology, automotive components, energy, and consumer products. Prior to joining Longford Capital, Mr. Cavan was a partner in some of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Mr. Cavan started his career at Sidley Austin LLP (associate 1998-2006; partner 2006-2011) and was also a partner in the Chicago offices of Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015) and Baker McKenzie LLP (2015-2018). Most recently, Mr. Cavan served as the chair of the intellectual property practice at Harrison Law LLC, a Chicago litigation boutique. During his career in private practice, Mr. Cavan earned recognition as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA, International Asset Management, and SuperLawyers. For several years, Mr. Cavan served as a co-chair the Patent Law Institute’s Patent Boot Camp, presenting on strategic patenting issues. Mr. Cavan graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he taught legal writing as a member of the Board of Student Advisers and served on the editorial board of the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. Mr. Cavan graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from DukeUniversity with a B.S. in Biology. After graduating from Duke, Mr. Cavan taught as an Annenberg Fellow and master at Eton College in Windsor, England. Mr. Cavan has been admitted to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Mr. Cavan has also been a member of the Trial Bar for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. “The current economic climate of uncertainty and volatility has resulted in a jump in demand for our capital and we are expanding our team in response. Before joining Longford, Marc assisted us in the investment selection process evaluating the strength of patent claims; we know his talent as a patent litigator, and we are fortunate to have Marc join our team,” stated Michael A. Nicolas, Managing Director of Longford Capital. About Longford Capital Longford Capital is a leading private investment company with more than $1 billion in assets under management that provides capital to leading law firms, public and private companies, universities, government agencies, and other entities involved in large-scale, commercial legal disputes. The firm manages a diversified portfolio, and considers investments in subject matter areas where it has developed considerable expertise, including, business-to-business contract claims, antitrust and trade regulation claims, intellectual property claims (including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret), fiduciary duty claims, fraud claims, claims in bankruptcy and liquidation, domestic and international arbitrations, and a variety of others. For additional information about Longford Capital, please visit www.longfordcapital.com.
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New North Litigation Capital Launches, Backed by £50 Million in Senior Secured Financing from Pollen Street Capital

By John Freund |

Pollen Street Capital ("Pollen Street") today announces a new senior secured credit facility of up to £50 million to New North Litigation Capital (“New North”). New North is a commercial litigation finance company and a direct subsidiary of Capital Law, a Cardiff based law firm founded in 2006.

Capital Law has a strong track record in commercial litigation, having closed over 400 claimant cases since 2001 with a 95% win rate. Drawing on its senior leadership and experienced disputes team, Capital Law launched New North to address the underserved small to mid-market segment of commercial litigation market. 

New North will be the only litigation financier in the UK owned and operated by practicing lawyers, bringing their day to day lived experience of handling mid-market litigation into pricing the risk and the funding investment decisions.

Christopher Nott, Founder and CEO of New North commented: “We are pleased to work with Pollen Street on this financing to launch New North Litigation Capital. The funding supports us to bridge a critical gap by funding claims that are often deemed too small by other players in the market. We are excited to work with the Pollen Street team as we create this new kind of litigation funding.”

Connor Marshall-Mckie, Investment Director at Pollen Street, commented:New North addresses an important gap in the litigation funding space, focusing on smaller mid-market commercial litigation. With the significant opportunity available and the deep experience of the leadership team from Capital Law we are excited to partner with the team to support their growth.”

About Pollen Street

Pollen Street is a fast-growing and high-performing private capital asset manager. Established in 2013, the firm has built deep capability across the real estate, financial and business services sectors aligned with mega-trends shaping the future of the industry. Pollen Street manages over €7bn AUM across private equity and credit strategies on behalf of investors including leading public and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, asset managers, banks, and family offices from around the world. Pollen Street has a team of over 95 professionals.

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.