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Member Spotlight: Julian Coleman

By Julian Coleman |
August 14, 2024

Member Spotlight: Julian Coleman

With a background in Physics, Engineering and Software, Julian Coleman has 30+ years’ experience at the COO level conceiving new products and leading the project management, system design, engineering, software development, manufacturing, compliance and delivery teams.

Company Name and Description: 10th Mind is an e-discovery company that has been created with a major focus on innovation, not only for general e-discovery activities but in particular to assist litigation funds to overcome their specific challenges and threats  –  a special approach demanding a change of mindset.

Our name reflects our focus on innovation and is derived from the intelligence community – the Tenth Man principle. It requires that, where a group of ten analysts is working on the same data and nine of the group reach the same conclusion, it is the duty of the 10th person, the 10th Mind, to examine the issue on the premise that the other nine are wrong.

The ‘group think’ consensus may be right most of the time, or even mostly right all of the time, but tends to favour business as usual. The 10th Mind is there to challenge the consensus view and proffer different solutions.

10th Mind has defined (and addressed) four key areas:

  • Costs – there is in our view an increasing understanding that costs must be reduced
  • Process management and recording – not only does a very efficient process drive costs down, but it can (and must) include extensive record keeping of the entire process in order to support effective litigation
  • Technology will play an ever increasing role
  • Litigation Funds – a rapidly expanding market both in terms of finance available and in market sectors, funds are naturally focused on profit, a critical part of their business being case selection – and costs are a major factor here too. Funds have their own challenges, but also are having a significant impact on the wider litigation landscape.

Addressing these issues has been very interesting. As a seasoned C level executive it has been interesting to analyse and then dispense with so much convention. A business structured around what is today rather than yesterday can look very different and cost far less whilst being intrinsically more responsive and adaptable. In terms of what we can do, having no legacy structures to worry about has major benefits which transfer to the client:

  • Costs are reduced.  Many expensive overheads can be dispensed with.
  • We have developed our own project management and recording systems; based on PRINCE2 and facilitated by our unique software, integrated with selected new commercial products, management processes are vastly improved. Full traceable record keeping and transparency are built in and automated, essentially at zero cost.
  • …and finally but crucially, 10th Mind will work with funds on special terms:
    • if the fund is prepared to take on a case we will work on a CFA basis
    • we will also work with the fund on a CFA basis to undertake early stage investigations, in our view crucial to improving the evidence on which to base case selection and ultimately, therefore, profitability.

At 10th Mind we are convinced that not only is such an approach necessary now, but there will be ever-present forces driving the need for continued evolution:

Costs are becoming a major issue.  Significant concern has emerged in the English litigation funding community over last year’s Paccar judgement. Omni Bridgeway’s Co-chief Information Officer, Matt Harrison, has said that some litigation funders may not survive the economic instability as “they don’t have the money available to them to invest in cases and in law firms.”  Bloomberg Law also recently noted that some litigation funds are currently facing financial difficulty.

Burford, one of the biggest litigation funds in the world and which describes itself as “the institutional quality finance firm focused on law“, undertook surveys from which they report:

“[Over half of respondents to its poll] (52%) say drastic steps are needed to better manage legal costs, such as moving away from the billable hour, limiting outside firms and more innovation from outside counsel.“

and

“Finance and legal professionals agree: the legal department’s top priority for the next 15 years is to minimize legal costs. But they are also unified in prioritizing that the legal department simultaneously find new ways to recover value.“

It is clear there is a consensus that costs, specifically cost reduction, must be considered, and in our view, litigation funds will be a driving force.

Litigation funds have a very different focus from law firms, crucially they exist to make profits and that means winning cases, which in turn places a focus on the initial assessment stage.  And, as previously observed, the sector is expanding both in terms of available funds and in scope, driving change and posing challenges for dispute litigation as a whole. 

Logically as funding takes over a larger percentage of dispute litigation, the greater the overall impact this will have on costs. Arguably as saturation approaches, such pressures can only increase.

Process management and recording is in our view now essential, not merely tracking the ingestion and processing of data from collection to court, but the recording of all the management processes which defined the data management: who did what, when and why, recorded in forensic detail. This not only, if done well, improves business processes but it evidences them should legal challenges arise. Hence this data must be ‘forensics ready’.

Technology can and will help. But it must be the right technology which assists the first two objectives, ie improving practises whilst reducing costs. Having found critical gaps in commercial offerings, we have worked on our own solution.

Website: www.10thMind.com

Founded: 2023

Headquarters: UK (London)

Member Quote: We feel it crucial that providers must always question the legacy thinking and structures that entrench lack of efficiency, accuracy, and high costs.  By applying the 10th Mind principle, we are providing services in a new way: shared risk, formal (and unique) project management and software, along with specialised services specifically to assist funds combine to make us, to our knowledge, unique in the e-discovery sector.

If you would like to find out more as to how we can assist you and your clients, we would be delighted to meet you. Please contact us through our website (www.10thmind.com) or email our COO directly at julian.coleman@10thmind.com.

About the author

Julian Coleman

Julian Coleman

Commercial

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Commercial

Singapore Court Declines to Revive $14 Million Third-Party Funding Cost Recovery Bid

By John Freund |

A Singapore court has affirmed an arbitral award denying a successful litigant's attempt to recover more than $14 million in third-party funding costs, reinforcing the principle that funding expenses are generally not recoverable from the losing side. The decision offers important guidance for funded parties weighing the economics of dispute resolution in one of Asia's leading arbitration hubs.

As reported by Law360, the dispute arose from an arbitration over control of a fintech joint venture. The prevailing party sought reimbursement of the substantial fees it had paid to its litigation funder, arguing those costs should be shifted to its opponent as part of the award.

The court rejected that argument, characterizing the funding expense as "simply the product of a risk any party engaged in dispute resolution takes." By framing the cost as an inherent risk of pursuing a claim rather than a recoverable disbursement, the court declined to allow the funded party to pass its financing burden to the other side.

The ruling underscores a recurring tension in funded disputes: while third-party funding can make claims viable, the cost of that capital typically remains with the party that engaged the funder, even in victory. Counsel in the matter included Providence Law Asia, Rajah & Tann, and Duxton Hill Chambers, with the proceedings tied to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. For funders and funded parties alike, the decision is a reminder that recovery of funding costs cannot be assumed and must be carefully assessed when structuring the economics of a case.

Commercial

Op-Ed Urges New York to Close the ‘Champerty Loophole’ Exploited by Litigation-Funding Hedge Funds

By John Freund |

A new opinion piece is pressing New York lawmakers to close what the author calls a "champerty loophole," arguing that gaps in the state's centuries-old prohibition on financing others' lawsuits have allowed hedge funds and litigation funders to profit from the court system. The commentary adds to a broader policy debate over how, and whether, third-party litigation funding should be constrained.

As reported by the New York Daily News, the author contends that most New Yorkers have never heard of the champerty doctrine, yet its weakened application has helped turn the state's courts into what the piece describes as a playground for well-capitalized financial actors. Champerty, historically, refers to an arrangement in which an outside party funds litigation in exchange for a share of the proceeds, a practice long disfavored under New York law but now widely worked around.

The op-ed argues that the current framework permits hedge funds and litigation funders to bankroll claims for financial return while escaping meaningful regulation, raising concerns about the influence of outside capital over litigation strategy and outcomes. The author calls on the legislature to tighten the rules and restore limits the doctrine was originally designed to impose.

The piece lands amid intensifying scrutiny of third-party litigation funding nationwide, from federal disclosure proposals to state-level efforts to regulate consumer funding and non-lawyer ownership of law firms. As New York weighs its approach, the champerty debate underscores the enduring tension between expanding access to the courts and guarding against the commercialization of litigation.

Commercial

Litigation Funder Rocade Capital Acquires Law Finance Group, Creating $2.3 Billion Platform

By John Freund |

Rocade Capital has acquired litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, the company announced Wednesday, combining the two firms into a platform with more than $2.3 billion in deployed capital. The deal marks a notable consolidation in a litigation finance market that continues to attract institutional interest as an emerging asset class.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, Arlington, Virginia-based Rocade Capital specializes in credit-style funding for mass tort and contingency-fee law firms. Law Finance Group brings a more diversified portfolio spanning appellate, commercial, and single-case investments. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition broadens Rocade's reach well beyond its traditional mass tort niche. By absorbing Law Finance Group's book of business, Rocade gains exposure to additional practice areas and case types, positioning the combined firm to compete across a wider segment of the funding landscape.

Rocade Chief Executive Officer Brian Roth framed the transaction as a growth opportunity. "This is a great opportunity for us to grow and that's why we're bringing on the whole team and the whole portfolio," Roth said, indicating that Rocade retained Law Finance Group's personnel as well as its existing investments.

The deal reflects a broader pattern of consolidation within litigation finance, which Bloomberg Law characterized as "a niche but growing asset class." As funders scale their balance sheets and diversify across case types, combinations of this kind may become increasingly common, allowing established players to deepen their capital base and expand the range of claims they can support.