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Therium Expands London Investment Team with Appointment of James Dobias

Therium Expands London Investment Team with Appointment of James Dobias

London, 22 October, 2019 – Therium Group Holdings Ltd., a leading provider of litigation finance globally with over $1 billion of assets under management, has added to its investment team in London with the appointment of James Dobias as an Investment Officer. James joins Therium from Slaughter and May, where he advised on a broad range of complex commercial disputes, as well as white-collar and corporate investigations, including: High-value follow-on and standalone competition damages claims, including collective settlement negotiations with claimant law firms; Mass tort and other group claims across a number of sectors; Defending Aegis in High Court litigation alleging breach of warranty and fraudulent misrepresentation; Advising a FTSE 100 company on a fraud and asset tracing claim, involving considerations as to jurisdiction, location of assets and foreign enforcement risk; and Advising Rolls-Royce during its bribery and corruption investigations, including the negotiation of simultaneous deferred prosecution agreements with the UK Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice. James has also held senior commercial roles at SAM Labs, an internet-of-things electronics company, and online lawyer introduction service Lexoo. Neil Purslow, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Therium, said: “James is a first class litigator with tremendous experience of working on very challenging, typically cross-border disputes with multiple stakeholders. His expertise and entrepreneurial flair fits perfectly with Therium and he will play a key role as we continue to see substantial demand for our litigation funding services globally. We are delighted that James has joined our investment team.” James Dobias, Investment Officer, Therium Capital Management, said: “I have admired Therium for many years and been hugely impressed by its work, innovation and rapid growth across the world. It’s very exciting to be joining such a preeminent leader of the litigation finance industry.” James is a graduate of the University of Oxford (First Class Honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)), where he came top of his year in Economics, and BPP Law School, where he achieved a Distinction in both the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course. Therium is one of world’s leading litigation financing firms. The firm has funded claims valued at £34 billion and has operations across Europe, including in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia, and in the USA and Australia. Therium is ranked as a Tier 1 litigation funder in Chambers and Partners’ 2019 litigation support directory. About Therium Therium is a leading global provider of litigation, arbitration and specialty legal finance and has funded claims with a total value exceeding £34 billion.  The firm has investment teams in the UK, USA, Australia, Spain, Germany and Oslo, supplementing its resources in its corporate headquarters in Jersey, Channel Islands.  Therium has established a track record of success in litigation finance in all forms including single case litigation, group litigation and arbitration funding, funding law firms, funding portfolios of litigation and arbitration claims and monetising judgments and awards.  Therium has raised over $1 billion since its foundation, which includes the latest £325 million fund raised in March 2019. www.therium.com
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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.

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.