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Announcements Commercial Legal Innovation

New research reveals growing business impact of in-house lawyers and legal departments as they increasingly generate cash recoveries

Burford Capital, the leading global finance and asset management firm focused on law, today releases new independent research based on a survey of 300 GCs and heads of litigation in the US and UK that demonstrates the transformative way that GCs view legal department impact. GCs seek to add value to the business, and affirmative litigation recoveries play an increasingly important role. GCs also see a role for their law firm partners and for legal finance, especially in relation to fostering innovation and providing support for affirmative recovery programs.

Christopher Bogart, CEO of Burford Capital, said: “Burford’s latest independent research shows that GCs are determined for the legal department to increase their business impact. Legal finance can help them, and the research shows that GCs are increasingly open to cost- and risk-sharing with third parties and that law firms need to be ready to talk to clients about this solution.”

Among the core findings of the research:

  • GCs are ambitious for the legal department’s impact in generating liquidity and transcending its traditional understanding as a cost center.
    • Over half (54%) say the legal department is understood to add value to the business by pursuing recoveries through litigation or arbitration.
    • An even larger majority (69%) say identifying new ways to add value to the business is the most important means by which in-house lawyers can contribute to the success of the company.
  • Still, many see opportunities to do more, specifically in adding value through meritorious affirmative recoveries.
    • Over half of those surveyed (51%) say they need to build infrastructure and process to add value through meritorious affirmative recoveries.
  • GCs expect law firms to be ready to provide guidance on value generation.
    • A solid majority (65%) say that receiving guidance from law firm partners about opportunities to innovate or add value to the business is one of the most important factors in individual GC success.
    • Six in ten say either that their panel litigation firms have spoken to them about legal finance in the last five years or that the firm’s doing so would have contributed to the company success.
  • Legal finance is poised to play an increasingly important role in GC success.
  • GCs see a role for legal finance, especially in relation to their affirmative recoveries.
  • Just under a third of GCs (27%) say their companies have used legal finance.
  • Similarly, almost six in ten say either that they reviewed legal finance partners in the last five years or that doing so would have contributed to the company’s success.

The 2022 GC Survey can be downloaded on Burford’s website, where full results are also available. The research report was conducted in June 2022 by GLG via an online survey, with responses from 300 US and UK GCs, heads of litigation and other senior in-house lawyers responsible for their companies’ commercial litigation.

About Burford Capital

Burford Capital is the leading global finance and asset management firm focused on law. Its businesses include litigation finance and risk management, asset recovery and a wide range of legal finance and advisory activities. Burford is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BUR) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: BUR), and it works with companies and law firms around the world from its principal offices in New York, London, Chicago, Washington, DC, Singapore, Sydney and Hong Kong.

For more information, please visit www.burfordcapital.com.

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Announcements Commercial Legal Innovation

Sentry Expands Free Funding Market Search for Litigators

By John Freund |

Sentry Funding’s free tool enabling litigators to instantly search the funding market on behalf of clients has been expanded.

Sentry’s free ‘decision in principle’ feature enables lawyers to evidence to clients that they have conducted a broad market search, even if funding is not ultimately taken out.

Having deployed £125m in funding across a range of case types, Sentry now has access to an even broader funding marketplace, covering 34 global jurisdictions. Finance is provided by 13 funders, five of which are members of the Association of Litigation Funders.

With the recent addition of Sentry’s first US-based funder, the US offering will now be expanding over the next few months. 

A faster process

Sentry has deployed the latest technology to make the search for funding even easier. 

  • The intuitive application process now only asks questions relevant to previous answers, saving lawyers time.
  • The commercial marketplace has been redeveloped with 63 new data points added to the funder criteria matrix - improving the accuracy of case / funder matching
  • Sentry has also begun building out its AI capabilities, starting with an automated auditing tool for live case progression audits. 

Tom Webster, chief executive officer at Sentry Funding, said:

‘By broadening our reach and speeding up the process, we’re making it even easier for lawyers to raise funding. We’re also giving litigators an easy way to show clients they have fully researched the market, rather than just approaching one or two funders. 

‘The service is free to use, so even if clients decide they do not ultimately want funding or if none is available for that case, for the lawyer, it makes sense to use our “decision in principle” feature, so they can put evidence on file that they did check the market.’

Sentry Funding is an SaaS (software as a service) technology provider that gives solicitors access to a diverse marketplace of litigation funders. It works with solicitors, funders and third-party providers to ensure claimants are getting the most efficient service for their funding needs. 

The Sentry Portal also acts as a case management system that runs a transparent digital case file for solicitors, funders, after-the-event insurance providers, barristers, cost lawyers and other relevant third parties.

Announcements Commercial

NorthWall Capital Hits €2.9 B AUM on Private Credit Momentum

By John Freund |

NorthWall Capital has rocketed past €2.9 billion in assets under management after pulling in an additional €1.6 billion of institutional capital in 2025 alone. The London-based alternative credit manager says the surge reflects allocators’ intensifying hunt for scaled, multi-strategy platforms as Europe’s banks retrench and borrowers seek bespoke sources of credit.

A press release from NorthWall Capital details first-close totals across four distinct strategies. The flagship Credit Opportunities fund secured €731 million—already eclipsing its prior vintage—while the newly launched Senior Lending vehicle raised $503 million, translating to roughly $750 million of deployable firepower once leverage is applied. Asset-Backed Opportunities collected €252 million for collateral-rich loans in sectors underserved by traditional lenders, and the specialist Legal Assets platform locked down $169 million to extend the firm’s law-firm lending programme.

Founder and CIO Fabian Chrobog said the fundraising validates “the consistency of our approach” and NorthWall’s ability to craft solutions that resonate with investors and counterparties alike. With headcount slated to hit 40 by year-end, the firm plans to lean further into complex, situational credit born of bank deleveraging, regulatory shifts and sponsors’ need for certainty of execution.

Announcements Commercial People Moves

Victory Park Expands Legal Credit Leadership with Maleson Promotion

By John Freund |

Victory Park Capital (VPC), a global alternative asset manager specializing in private credit, has announced that Justin Maleson will expand his role to Managing Director, co-heading the firm’s legal credit investment strategy. The promotion underscores VPC’s ongoing investment in its legal finance capabilities and follows Maleson’s initial appointment in 2024 as Assistant General Counsel.

An announcement from Victory Park Capital details Maleson’s new responsibilities, which include sourcing, analyzing, and managing investments across legal assets, while maintaining oversight of the firm’s legal operations. He joins Chad Clamage in co-leading the strategy, working alongside team members Hugo Lestiboudois and Andrew Pascal, under the continued oversight of VPC CEO and founder Richard Levy.

Maleson brings a strong background in litigation finance and commercial law to the position. Before joining VPC, he served as a director at Longford Capital, where he specialized in originating and managing litigation funding transactions. His earlier tenure as a litigation partner at Jenner & Block further deepened his exposure to complex legal matters, equipping him with the expertise needed to navigate the nuanced legal credit space.

VPC’s legal credit team emphasizes an asset-backed lending model, prioritizing downside protection and predictable income streams. The firm aims to capitalize on inefficiencies within the legal funding market by leveraging its internal expertise and broad network of relationships. With Maleson’s appointment, VPC signals its intent to further scale its legal credit strategy, positioning itself as a key player in the evolving legal finance sector.

Maleson’s elevation comes at a time of increasing sophistication in litigation finance, where experienced legal minds are playing a pivotal role in portfolio construction and risk management. As VPC bolsters its leadership, the move may foreshadow further institutionalization of legal asset investing and heightened competition in a maturing market segment.