Omni Bridgeway expands its team of US-based investment professionals

Omni Bridgeway expands its team of US-based investment professionals

Omni Bridgeway (formerly known in the US as Bentham IMF) is pleased to announce a significant expansion of its US investment team to accommodate its growth in the world’s hottest legal finance market. In addition to adding four brand new investment professionals, we are thrilled to announce the promotion of four team members who have been key players on our US team. In New York, former Kirkland & Ellis LLP partner Ian Spain has joined Omni Bridgeway as an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel, bringing with him over a decade of complex litigation experience. Chris Citro, also formerly of Kirkland, has joined the team as a Legal Counsel with specialized experience in patent litigation (including ITC matters) and other intellectual property disputes. In Los Angeles, former Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman Counsel Justin Brossier comes aboard as an Associate Investment Manager and Legal Counsel, where his diverse prior litigation experience will enable him to identify strong investment opportunities as well as provide sound strategic advice to Omni Bridgeway’s internal Investment Committee and to external stakeholders alike. And in Houston, Raj Duvvuri joins as an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel. A graduate of Harvard Law School with deep ties in the Houston market, Raj began his career at top-tier law firms such as Baker Botts. Most recently, Raj served as the General Counsel for Atlas Operating LLC and Affiliates, a privately held energy and real estate conglomerate known for operation of oil and gas assets and commercial properties in U.S. and Canada. His unique combination of law firm and in-house skills and expertise will be key as the company’s corporate and law firm portfolio financing opportunities continue to grow in size and number. “Omni Bridgeway is the gold standard in this industry, and I am honored and excited to join the organization,” observed Justin. Similarly, Raj remarked that “Omni Bridgeway has an unmatched reputation in the funding space and is at an exciting moment in its development. I’m thrilled to be joining the team.” In addition, Omni Bridgeway is delighted to announce the promotion of the following investment professionals, all of whom have displayed excellent judgment and counsel on potential opportunities and funded investments. They have expertly navigated several funded matters through their life cycle and have assisted Omni Bridgeway with its growth and expansion into new legal finance areas, from private equity to insolvency and international arbitration. Advancing to Investment Manager and Legal Counsel are Amy Geise in Houston and John Harabedian in Los Angeles. Both Sarah Jacobson in New York and Nilufar Hossain in San Francisco are being promoted to Associate Investment Manager and Legal Counsel. “All of these team members have proven themselves to be great assets. Moving them up the ranks is not only recognition of all their hard work and dedication to maintaining Omni Bridgeway as the go-to funder in the US, it also demonstrates our commitment to promote well-deserving folks from within,” says US Chief Investment Officer Allison Chock. On the recent hires and promotions, Andrew Saker, Omni Bridgeway’s Managing Director & CEO and Chief Strategy Officer, notes that “the expansion of the US investment group is a direct result of the demand we are seeing in the market for legal finance products and also displays our advancement of, and execution on, our US growth strategy to remain a top dispute finance funder regionally, as well as globally. Keep an eye on this space; we’re just getting started.”
ABOUT OMNI BRIDGEWAY
Omni Bridgeway is a global leader in financing and managing legal risks, with expertise in civil and common law legal and recovery systems, and with operations around the world. Omni Bridgeway offers dispute finance from case inception through to post-judgment enforcement and recovery. Since 1986, it has established a record of financing disputes and enforcement proceedings.
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New North Litigation Capital Launches, Backed by £50 Million in Senior Secured Financing from Pollen Street Capital

By John Freund |

Pollen Street Capital ("Pollen Street") today announces a new senior secured credit facility of up to £50 million to New North Litigation Capital (“New North”). New North is a commercial litigation finance company and a direct subsidiary of Capital Law, a Cardiff based law firm founded in 2006.

Capital Law has a strong track record in commercial litigation, having closed over 400 claimant cases since 2001 with a 95% win rate. Drawing on its senior leadership and experienced disputes team, Capital Law launched New North to address the underserved small to mid-market segment of commercial litigation market. 

New North will be the only litigation financier in the UK owned and operated by practicing lawyers, bringing their day to day lived experience of handling mid-market litigation into pricing the risk and the funding investment decisions.

Christopher Nott, Founder and CEO of New North commented: “We are pleased to work with Pollen Street on this financing to launch New North Litigation Capital. The funding supports us to bridge a critical gap by funding claims that are often deemed too small by other players in the market. We are excited to work with the Pollen Street team as we create this new kind of litigation funding.”

Connor Marshall-Mckie, Investment Director at Pollen Street, commented:New North addresses an important gap in the litigation funding space, focusing on smaller mid-market commercial litigation. With the significant opportunity available and the deep experience of the leadership team from Capital Law we are excited to partner with the team to support their growth.”

About Pollen Street

Pollen Street is a fast-growing and high-performing private capital asset manager. Established in 2013, the firm has built deep capability across the real estate, financial and business services sectors aligned with mega-trends shaping the future of the industry. Pollen Street manages over €7bn AUM across private equity and credit strategies on behalf of investors including leading public and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, asset managers, banks, and family offices from around the world. Pollen Street has a team of over 95 professionals.

Burford’s Q2 Profits Surge on New Capital

By John Freund |

Burford Capital has delivered its strongest quarterly performance in two years, buoyed by a swelling pipeline of high-value disputes and a fresh infusion of investor cash.

A press release in PR Newswire reveals that the New York- and London-listed funder more than doubled revenue and profitability in the three months to 30 June 2025. CEO Christopher Bogart credited “very substantial levels of new business” for the uptick, noting that demand for non-recourse financing remains “as strong as we’ve ever seen.”

The stellar quarter follows a lightning-quick, two-day debt offering in July that raised $500 million—capital Burford says will be deployed across a growing roster of commercial litigations, international arbitrations, and asset-recovery campaigns. Management also highlighted significant progress in portfolio rotations, underscoring the firm’s ability to monetise older positions while writing new ones at scale. Investors will get a deeper dive when Burford hosts its earnings call today at 9 a.m. EDT.

Burford’s results arrive amid heightened regulatory chatter in Washington and Westminster, yet the numbers suggest the industry’s largest player is unfazed—for now—by talk of disclosure mandates and tax levies. The firm emphasised that its legal-finance, risk-management and asset-recovery businesses remain uncorrelated to broader markets, a pitch that continues to resonate with pension funds and endowments hunting for alternative yield.

For litigation-finance insiders, Burford’s capital-raising prowess and improving margins could have ripple effects: rival funders may face stiffer competition for marquee cases, while law-firm partners might leverage the firm’s deeper pockets to negotiate richer portfolio deals.

International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) Announces End of Year Gala and Inaugural Legal Finance Awards

By John Freund |

 The International Legal Finance Association is pleased to announce its annual End-of-Year Gala Dinner on November 13, 2025.  The event will take place at The Law Society in London, bringing together leading figures from across the legal finance industry for an evening of celebration and reflection on the year’s achievements.  

The dinner will be accompanied by the inaugural Legal Finance Awards.  The awards are designed to recognize and honor excellence across the legal finance ecosystem. They will spotlight the achievements of funders, law firms, brokers, advisors, and other key contributors to the continued growth and innovation of the industry. Nominations for the awards are now open, with the nomination form available here

“The Gala Dinner is a chance for our members and guests to gather in person and celebrate the progress we've made over the year,” said Rupert Cunningham, Global Director of Growth and Membership Engagement at ILFA. “We are especially excited to launch the Legal Finance Awards, which will shine a light on the outstanding work and impact of professionals across our field.”

Tickets for the Gala are on sale now, with discounted pricing available for ILFA members.  More information can be found here.