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Member Spotlight: Susanna Taylor

Susanna Taylor is Head of Investments – APAC, for Litigation Capital Management (LCM). Susanna leads LCM’s team of Investment Managers in Australia and Singapore and is responsible for overseeing the sourcing, due diligence and management of LCM’s investment activities across the APAC region.

Susanna is a highly experienced and skilled operator being active in the litigation funding industry since 2014 when she joined LCM. Since that time Susanna has been responsible for sourcing, underwriting and managing a large and diverse portfolio of dispute projects consisting of commercial disputes, class actions, insolvency claims and international arbitration.

Susanna sits on LCM’s investment committees for both APAC and EMEA and is intimately involved in the operational aspects of LCM’s business, taking part in regulatory and compliance and capital raising activities, investor relations and the expansion of LCM to new jurisdictions.

Prior to joining LCM in 2014, Susanna was a litigation specialist with Norton Rose Fulbright in Sydney where her practice canvassed class actions, financial institutions disputes, contentious regulatory work (including work for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) and corporate disputes. Before joining Norton Rose Fulbright, Susanna practised in London for UK firm Hammonds Suddards Edge where her focus was on construction litigation. Susanna’s Chambers and Partners profile describes her as “one of the top operators in the industry,” and as “an extremely impressive litigation funder with a strong ability to cut to the commercial reality of claims.”

Company Name & Description:  LCM specialises in providing bespoke dispute finance solutions to facilitate the pursuit and successful recovery of funds from legal claims, while protecting our clients from the downside risk associated with disputes. Founded in 1998, LCM is one of Australia’s most experienced and successful disputes finance companies. LCM has completed over 260 cases and has assisted hundreds of companies and individuals in achieving significant recoveries from claims that, without LCM, may not have been pursued due to the associated costs and risks.

All of LCM’s Investment Managers are former litigators with the level of experience required to facilitate successful outcomes in disputes. LCM’s team is highly skilled in the assessment of claims and in providing strategic assistance throughout the process of determining the dispute. LCM has an unparalleled track record, driven by effective project selection, active project management and robust risk management. LCM’s capability stems from being a pioneer of the industry with more than 25 years of disputes finance experience.

LCM is listed on AIM (at the London Stock Exchange), trading under the ticker LIT.

Company Website https://lcmfinance.com/

Year Founded: 1998

Headquarters: Headquartered in Sydney, with offices in London, Singapore, Brisbane and Melbourne

Area of Focus: Arbitration, Insolvency Claims, Commercial Claims, Class Actions

Member Quote: “Disputes finance is a risk management tool which allows a variety of claimants from small to large to leverage their dispute assets in order to transfer the costs and risk of a dispute to a third party funder.  Being involved in structuring these finance solutions and sitting alongside claimants to assist them to reach a successful outcome makes this a very rewarding industry to be a part of“.

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As Funders Dodge 40% Tax, Questions Remain

By John Freund |

Litigation financiers have narrowly sidestepped what many saw as an existential threat: a 40 percent federal tax on funding profits that had been quietly tucked into the Senate’s sprawling reconciliation bill. While the proposal’s defeat means the industry will remain in tact, the close call has exposed deep fissures in an industry still fighting for political legitimacy.

An article in Bloomberg recounts how the International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) scrambled a last-minute “war room,” tapping GOP fixer Pete Kirkham and leaning on senators Ron Wyden and Mike Lee to invoke the Byrd Rule and strip the revenue provision before a floor vote. The measure, authored by Sen. Thom Tillis, would have taxed funders at the top individual rate (37%) plus an additional 3.8%, barred loss-netting and lifted shields for tax-exempt investors—changes projected to raise $3.5 billion over a decade.

ILFA’s rapid mobilization underscored the piecemeal nature of the sector’s advocacy. Omni Bridgeway portfolio manager Gian Kull lamented that funders “are not one unified entity, like private equity,” while Parker Poe partner Michael Kelley called the bill “a rifle shot right to the heart.” Yet not every member chipped in for the fight, reviving free-rider complaints in an a highly fragmented industry. Meanwhile, opponents led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—and vocal corporates Johnson & Johnson, Exxon Mobil and Liberty Mutual—signaled they will pivot to state legislatures and renewed transparency drives.

Writing on LinkedIn, Peter Petyt, founder of 4 Rivers Legal underscored the urgency of the current moment: "This moment calls for more than celebration — it demands leadership. The industry must come together to educate, advocate, and engage with lawmakers and the public in a constructive way."

For funders, the episode is a stark reminder that large corporations are gunning for this industry's very existence. Expect beefed-up lobbying budgets, accelerated ILFA recruitment and louder messaging on consumer access to justice as the industry braces for the next volley in what is fast becoming a multi-front policy war on third-party capital.

Burford-Backed Claimants Gain Brief Stay in YPF Turnover Dispute

By John Freund |

A Manhattan federal judge has handed Argentina a three-day reprieve in the long-running Petersen / Eton Park saga, pausing enforcement of a $16.1 billion judgment that would force the hand-over of the country’s 51 percent stake in YPF.

Reuters notes that Judge Loretta Preska pushed the turnover deadline to July 17 so Buenos Aires can seek emergency relief from the Second Circuit, while chastising the sovereign for what she called “continued delay and circumvention.” The minority shareholders—represented by Burford Capital—stand to capture as much as 73 percent of the proceeds if Argentina ultimately pays, a prospect the Milei administration says could destabilize an economy already battling 200 percent inflation and dwindling reserves.

Preska’s order reinforces New York courts’ willingness to deploy drastic remedies against recalcitrant sovereigns, signalling that litigation financiers can indeed convert paper judgments into hard assets—even politically sensitive ones like a controlling stake in a national oil champion.

For the wider industry, the decision spotlights the enforcement stage as a fertile (and risky) arena for capital deployment. Success here could spur more sovereign-related funding, but also sharpen calls for transparency around funder returns when public assets are at stake.

Fieldfisher Taps Jackson-Grant as Pricing Chief

By John Freund |

Fieldfisher has recruited litigation-funding specialist Verity Jackson-Grant to the newly created post of Head of Commercial Pricing, underscoring the firm’s intent to capitalize on sophisticated fee and finance structures in the wake of last year’s PACCAR fallout. Jackson-Grant, best known for translating third-party capital into user-friendly products for corporate clients, will sit within the firm’s European finance team and manage a multi-office pricing unit.

An update on LinkedIn confirms her appointment, noting that she will “drive and shape” Fieldfisher’s pricing strategy across the continent. The role’s blueprint calls for rolling out “creative pricing models” that enhance client profitability and embed alternative fee arrangements into disputes workflows.

Jackson-Grant brings a rare blend of funding fluency and law-firm know-how. A former director at TheJudge, she brokered litigation-finance and ATE insurance packages before moving in-house to develop alternative pricing frameworks for major UK and US practices.