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Omni Bridgeway launches in Italy, welcomes Giacomo Serra Zanetti 

April 19, 2023

Omni Bridgeway launches in Italy, welcomes Giacomo Serra Zanetti 

Omni Bridgeway is pleased to announce the company’s continued European expansion with the addition of permanent operations in Milan, Italy, and welcomes Giacomo Serra Zanetti who joins as Investment Manager and Senior Legal Counsel. Based in Milan, Giacomo will leverage his background in finance and law to deliver non-recourse legal financing and legal recovery solutions to clients with an emphasis on the Italian market. Giacomo brings two decades of legal experience in structuring and executing cross-border transactions, with specific expertise in restructuring, insolvency and the acquisition of litigious and distressed claims gained while working for leading Italian law firms Grimaldi SL LLP, BonelliErede, and most recently, Advant – NCTM where he was an Equity Partner, as well as direct experience with an investor in insolvency actions and claims against distressed debtors. He is both admitted to the Italian bar and a solicitor of the courts of England and Wales.   “Omni Bridgeway has been successfully funding and supporting clients with legal proceedings in Italy for more than a decade,” notes Raymond van Hulst, Executive Director, Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer EMEA. “With our expansion into Italy, following France and Spain recently, we now have permanent operations in seven European jurisdictions and are funding proceedings in more than 15 European jurisdictions. Omni Bridgeway is now even better positioned to provide on-the-ground resources and expertise for corporations, law firms and claimants across Europe. Giacomo brings a stellar track record and is an excellent addition to the Omni Bridgeway team.” Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer EMEA, Hannah van Roessel, added, “I look forward to working with Giacomo and am thrilled to launch our permanent operations in Italy. Giacomo’s unique expertise, coupled with his deep knowledge of the Italian market allows Omni Bridgeway to provide a comprehensive offering to clients to address their legal finance, enforcement, and recovery needs within Italy and Europe, as well as internationally.” Giacomo Serra Zanetti commented, “I am truly excited to join Omni Bridgeway, a world leader in the legal finance industry. Italy’s legal market, with its high level of complexity and sophistication, represents a compelling market for legal finance and risk management. With operations based in Milan, Omni Bridgeway is perfectly situated to deliver innovative litigation financing and recovery solutions for a broad range of business and legal matters, including the most complex local and cross-border situations. With its truly diversified, global team, Omni Bridgeway adds value for stakeholders in a broad range of situations with underlying legal complexity (in both solvent and insolvent scenarios). I look forward to playing an instrumental role delivering capital and expertise in such circumstances.”
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Announcements Commercial

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.

Announcements Commercial

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.

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.