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Member Spotlight: Wendie Childress

Wendie Childress is an experienced commercial trial lawyer and litigation funder with an extensive and deep network across the U.S. legal and funding market. She joined Westfleet Advisors in 2023 after years of working with funding pioneers at Validity Finance and well over a decade of practicing commercial litigation at powerhouse boutique Yetter Coleman, one of the nation’s premier boutique trial law firms.

In her private practice, Wendie had a winning track record representing both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes across a variety of industries, including energy, financial services, healthcare, and IT. She graduated with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her JD in 2000. She then served for two years as General Counsel to the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce.

Wendie has been named to the Lawdragon “Global 100 Leaders in Litigation Finance” list and a “Houston Top Lawyer” in Business & Commercial Litigation by H Texas Magazine. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Texas Bar Foundation, Houston Bar Association, and Women of Litigation Finance Steering Committee.

Company Name and Description:  Westfleet Advisors is the most experienced litigation finance advisory firm in the world. Our core mission is to make litigation finance work better for lawyers and their clients by equipping them with the transparency, expertise, and resources they need to secure the best terms with the right capital partner.

Company Website:  https://www.westfleetadvisors.com/

Year Founded: 2013

Headquarters: Nashville

Area of Focus: As Managing Director and Counsel in the Westfleet Advisors Houston office, Wendie works directly with clients and their counsel in evaluating opportunities for litigation finance transactions and advising and shepherding them through all stages of the process to ensure that they get the best possible experience and terms.

Member Quote: “As a former trial lawyer and member of the litigation funding community, I have seen firsthand the need for balanced access to justice for all litigants and how funding presents an innovative and valuable way to mitigate risk and bring good cases to trial. I am so impressed with the quality of counsel and professionals within the litigation funding industry who are a pleasure to work with and eager to partner with firms and help clients succeed. I also see sweeping changes across the industry as it matures and evolves with intra-market movement, new entrants appearing daily, and new and creative solutions being derived to meet the market’s changing needs. As a member of the Westfleet team, my goal is to help clients and their counsel navigate this dynamic industry to have successful outcomes with their funding experience and ultimately, their cases.”

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Commercial Regulatory Issues

CJC Extends Deadline for Submissions to Litigation Funding Review 

By Harry Moran |

Following the publication of the Civil Justice Council’s (CJC) Interim Report and Consultation for its review of the litigation funding sector in October 2024, there have been no new developments as funders eagerly await signs of action from the new government. 

An article in The Law Society Gazette covers the news that the Civil Justice Council has adjusted the consultation period for its review into third-party litigation funding, extending its deadline for submissions to 3 March. This schedule adjustment sees the deadline pushed back by over a month, with the original deadline having been set for 31 January. The decision to adjust the deadline does not appear to have been driven by any developments from the government or ongoing matters in the courts, with the Gazette reporting that the extension “will allow for greater engagement with stakeholders ahead of the submission deadline.”

The full list of consultation questions and cover sheet can be found here, with all submissions needing to be completed by 11:59 pm on 3 March. 

According to the CJC’s website, the deadline “the extension will not adversely affect the finalisation of the full report”. It has been previously stated that the publication of the full and final report will take place some time in the summer of this year, with this latest update offering no guidance on a more specific timeframe within that period.

The Interim Report published on 31 October 2024 can be found here.

Commercial Regulatory Issues

Georgia Governor Announces Tort Reform Package and New Litigation Funding Rules

By Harry Moran |

The battle over the future of regulations governing third-party legal funding looks set to rage on in 2025, as yet another state government has announced proposed legislative reforms that include new rules targeting consumer litigation funders.

In a release from the Office of the Governor, Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp announced his support for a tort reform package for the state, aiming to enact sweeping changes across a range of legal policy areas. The package contains a variety of legislative reforms including measures targeting the calculation of medical damages in personal injury cases, the elimination of double recovery of attorney’s fees, and significant reforms for third-party litigation funding.

  • When it comes to litigation funding, the legislation seeks change in the following areas:
  • Prohibiting “hostile foreign adversaries” from funding litigation to obtain trade secrets or advance their own political interests.
  • Preventing litigation funders from “having any input into the litigation strategy or from taking the plaintiff’s whole recovery”.
  • Increasing transparency around the involvement of litigation funders for all parties involved in litigation.

In the announcement of the tort reform package, Governor Kemp provided the following comment:

“As I said in my State of the State address earlier this month, our legal environment is draining family bank accounts and hurting job creators of all sizes in nearly every industry in our state.

After months of listening to our citizens, businesses, and stakeholders across the spectrum, it is clear the status quo is unacceptable, unsustainable, and jeopardizes our state's prosperity in the years to come. This tort reform package protects the rights of all Georgians to have access to our civil justice system, and ensures that those who have been wronged receive justice and are made whole. I look forward to working with our partners in the General Assembly to pass this comprehensive and commonsense package, and achieve meaningful progress on this important issue during this legislative session.”

Commercial Deals

LCM Releases Trading Update for First Half of 2025 Financial Year

By Harry Moran |

Due to the naturally confidential nature of matters involved in legal funding, it is no surprise that outside observers rarely get a detailed view of the successes and failures of individual litigation funders. However, for those publicly listed funders, we are afforded regular glimpses into the financial workings of their investments.

In a trading update published by Litigation Capital Management (LCM), the litigation funder shared some details on their performance in the first half of the 2025 financial year, covering the six months up to 31 December 2024. LCM revealed that during this period they had achieved four case wins and incurred three case losses, with the result being an aggregate multiple of invested capital (MOIC) of 3.7x on realisations.

Among these four case wins, LCM reported that one of these was a successful international arbitration claim brought against the Republic of Poland, whilst the losses included a trial loss in the Queensland Electricity case. LCM also revealed that during the first half of FY25, there were A$25 million in new commitments compared to A$90 million in H1 FY24. The funder explained that “while the period saw fewer quality opportunities meeting our rigorous investment criteria”, this was to be expected as part of the usual “ebb and flow of opportunities”.

Patrick Moloney, CEO of LCM , provided the following comment on the results: 

“While the first half of FY25 has been a period of mixed results, we are pleased with the strong realisations achieved and the ongoing progress of our portfolio.  The high multiple on invested capital reflects the value we continue to generate from our disciplined approach to dispute financing.  We remain confident in our ability to deploy capital effectively and to deliver attractive returns for our stakeholders as we move into the second half of the financial year.”

More details can be found in the full trading update.

Wendie Childress is an experienced commercial trial lawyer and litigation funder with an extensive and deep network across the U.S. legal and funding market. She joined Westfleet Advisors in 2023 after years of working with funding pioneers at Validity Finance and well over a decade of practicing commercial litigation at powerhouse boutique Yetter Coleman, one of the nation’s premier boutique trial law firms.

In her private practice, Wendie had a winning track record representing both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes across a variety of industries, including energy, financial services, healthcare, and IT. She graduated with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her JD in 2000. She then served for two years as General Counsel to the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce.

Wendie has been named to the Lawdragon “Global 100 Leaders in Litigation Finance” list and a “Houston Top Lawyer” in Business & Commercial Litigation by H Texas Magazine. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Texas Bar Foundation, Houston Bar Association, and Women of Litigation Finance Steering Committee.

Company Name and Description:  Westfleet Advisors is the most experienced litigation finance advisory firm in the world. Our core mission is to make litigation finance work better for lawyers and their clients by equipping them with the transparency, expertise, and resources they need to secure the best terms with the right capital partner.

Company Website:  https://www.westfleetadvisors.com/

Year Founded: 2013

Headquarters: Nashville

Area of Focus: As Managing Director and Counsel in the Westfleet Advisors Houston office, Wendie works directly with clients and their counsel in evaluating opportunities for litigation finance transactions and advising and shepherding them through all stages of the process to ensure that they get the best possible experience and terms.

Member Quote: “As a former trial lawyer and member of the litigation funding community, I have seen firsthand the need for balanced access to justice for all litigants and how funding presents an innovative and valuable way to mitigate risk and bring good cases to trial. I am so impressed with the quality of counsel and professionals within the litigation funding industry who are a pleasure to work with and eager to partner with firms and help clients succeed. I also see sweeping changes across the industry as it matures and evolves with intra-market movement, new entrants appearing daily, and new and creative solutions being derived to meet the market’s changing needs. As a member of the Westfleet team, my goal is to help clients and their counsel navigate this dynamic industry to have successful outcomes with their funding experience and ultimately, their cases.”