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  • Consumer Legal Funding: Beyond the Headlines, the Facts Tell a Different Story
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Member Spotlight: Blake Trueblood

November 8, 2023

Member Spotlight: Blake Trueblood

Blake Trueblood, a seasoned advocate and litigator, brings over eighteen years of experience to the forefront of the litigation finance industry. As co-founder of Invenio LLP, Blake has played a pivotal role in the firm’s dedication to the emerging litigation finance sector. His extensive background includes serving as General Counsel for a group of litigation finance and claims management companies, where he assisted plaintiffs and law firms in various practice areas, from personal injury to mass torts.
Blake’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found and manage a Florida-based law firm, specializing in representing claimants in personal injury, discrimination, and commercial claims. His practice has catered to both individuals and businesses seeking just compensation. Beyond his legal expertise, Blake has earned the trust of entrepreneurs, Native American tribes, and media personalities. His insightful commentary on topics like litigation finance and Tribal economic development has solidified his reputation as a thought leader. Born in the Midwest and raised in Florida, Blake now splits his time between Washington, D.C., and Fort Lauderdale, where he has a home with his significant other Maria, their daughter Amber,  and his dog Bella, a chihuahua-beagle mix. As an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Blake is deeply connected to Native American culture and its economic development initiatives. In his free time, he’s an avid hiker, runner, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, holding a black belt since 2015, with a second-degree earned in 2021. Company Name & Description: Invenio LLP is a leading provider of legal services for those navigating the complexities of the litigation finance industry. Our founding partners have extensive experience in claimant funding, law firm lending, and litigation supported by third-party funding. We serve claimants, the law firms who advocate on their behalf, and the lenders and funders that provide the capital necessary to see justice through. Our lawyers bring a wealth of experience to the rapidly evolving litigation finance landscape. We’ve represented both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation, and immersed ourselves in venture start-ups and private equity ventures catering to plaintiffs, law firms, and claims development experts, giving us a unique blend of expertise suited to untangle the complexities of the litigation finance space and find solutions. Invenio is committed to increasing access to civil justice by helping plaintiffs of all types access courts and level the playing field against well-resourced defendants.  We believe litigation finance can be a force multiplier for plaintiffs and the firms that represent them. We aim to make the process of exploring and obtaining litigation finance clear, fair, and straightforward. Company Website: inveniolaw.com Year Founded: 2022 Headquarters: Invenio has joint headquarters in Washington, D.C. and Fort Lauderdale. Area of Focus: Invenio LLP is fully engaged in all aspects of the rapidly emerging litigation finance industry. The firm’s founding partners have each worked on multiple claimant funding and law firm loan transactions and have themselves litigated cases where law firm portfolio funding or third-party case funding was used. Our clients are law firms borrowing for their cases or portfolios, claimants seeking traditional third-party funding, lenders seeking assistance with underwriting and servicing of cases or portfolios of cases, and parties to disputes or workouts. We focus on Case & Portfolio Underwriting; Borrower & Claimant Side Representation; and Pre-Settlement, Post-Settlement & Medical Lien Funding. Member Quote: “We believe that litigation finance levels the playing field in the fight for access to justice, both for claimants and the attorneys and law firms that represent them on the front lines. Invenio LLP was founded on that principle, and we focus our efforts each day on ensuring that plaintiffs, their advocates, and the investors who fund their efforts get the guidance they need to navigate this complex industry.”

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Commercial

Op-Ed Frames Third-Party Litigation Funding as a Cost-of-Living Issue

A new opinion piece argues that legal system abuse, including the rapid expansion of third-party litigation funding, is an overlooked driver of household costs, and calls for federal transparency measures targeting outside investors in litigation.

As reported by the Washington Reporter, Jenn Pellegrino, founder of Defend Forgotten America Action, writes that staged crashes, billboard advertising that omits how attorneys' fees, litigation funders and medical liens consume settlements, and unnecessary medical treatment combine to push costs onto businesses, insurers and ultimately consumers through higher prices and suppressed wages. She argues small businesses absorb the effects most acutely.

Pellegrino singles out third-party litigation funding as "one particularly troubling trend," pointing to the involvement of outside investors, including foreign governments and sovereign wealth funds, and the limited visibility courts and defendants have into who is financing a suit, what influence investors hold, and how recoveries are divided. The civil justice system, she writes, "should not become another financial marketplace where investors place bets on the outcome of lawsuits."

The piece points to state-level disclosure reforms already enacted and to two federal proposals. The Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act would require disclosure of foreign litigation funding and bar foreign governments and sovereign wealth funds from investing in U.S. litigation. The Tackling Predatory Litigation Funding Act would impose a higher tax rate on profits earned by outside investors in litigation.

The op-ed reflects a broader effort by funding critics to recast disclosure legislation as consumer economics rather than a narrow procedural debate.

Commercial

India’s Litigation Funding Market Draws Institutional Investors Despite Regulatory Vacuum

Third-party litigation funding in India remains small but is attracting institutional capital, with domestic and foreign funders building portfolios in a market that still has no central statute, regulator or disclosure requirement.

As reported by Business Standard, active participants include Five Rivers, LegalPay and Singapore-based ELF Partners, while the government examines whether litigation funding can be deployed for insolvency-related claims. The economics are familiar: a claimant with a ₹100 crore claim that would cost ₹5 crore to pursue can transfer that cost to a funder on a non-recourse basis, repaying only from recoveries.

The legal foundation rests on case law rather than legislation. Sameer Jain, managing partner at PSL Advocates & Solicitors, noted that the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in Bar Council of India v A.K. Balaji held that lawyers cannot fund their own clients but did not bar anyone else, while Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh amended the Code of Civil Procedure to recognise financiers. In Tomorrow Sales Agency v SBS Holdings, the Delhi High Court declined to treat a funder as a party to arbitration and held that an award could not be enforced against a non-party funder, while stressing that funding should be transparent and not exploitative.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs' Insolvency Law Committee likewise found no legal bar. Neeha Nagpal, founding partner at NM Law Chambers, described the market as unregulated by statute but governed by contract and precedent, and pointed to voluntary self-regulation through industry bodies as an interim step toward a balanced regime.

Commercial

Four in 10 UK Law Firms Now Open to External Capital, NatWest Report Finds

The share of UK law firms willing to consider outside investment has climbed sharply, according to NatWest's annual legal sector report, with 40% now saying they would actively explore some form of third-party capital.

As reported by Legal Futures, the report analysed 112 law firms with turnover between £1 million and £250 million and a median of £23 million. The 40% figure is up from 29% two years ago. Firms cited growth plans most often, followed by succession management, technology investment and what the report described as opportunistic windfall realisation.

Competition from private equity-backed firms is a growing pressure point. A third of respondents named competition for talent as the most significant challenge posed by PE-backed rivals, while 24% pointed to increased business investment costs. The report, authored by Andrew Allen, partner and head of PKF Francis Clark's national legal sector team, found firms are "pushed to accelerate investment in infrastructure… to compete with externally funded firms which often have the budgets to invest quickly and boldly," while externally funded firms "are seeking to rapidly gain market share which in turn places pressures on work pricing."

Interest on client money has become a meaningful earnings line, at a median 3.7% of earned income and 14% of profit per equity partner, down from 5.6% and 21% respectively. On Ministry of Justice proposals to divert that interest, 29% predicted legal price inflation and 11% forecast firm failures. Allen warned removal would drive significant fee inflation and "most probably the demise of notable volumes of law firms."