Therium Makes Case for Monetization of Corporate Litigation Assets in New Publication

Therium Makes Case for Monetization of Corporate Litigation Assets in New Publication

Therium, a leading global provider of litigation, arbitration and specialty legal finance, is pleased to announce the launch of a new publication aimed at educating corporations and their legal departments on the importance of monetizing their litigation assets through structured affirmative recovery programs. A Good Offense: The Therium Guide to Creating an Affirmative Recovery Program, is available as a progressive eBook, beginning today with the release of chapter 1, which introduces the concept of affirmative recovery and delves into its history. New chapters will be released during the last week of each month moving forward.

The legal departments of the world’s corporations were created out of necessity. Legal has always been viewed as a cost center, defending potentially costly claims against the company as efficiently as it can, and ensuring that transactions and other contractual matters are structured properly. Legal departments, however, regularly bypass potentially valuable litigation claims because the financial and other risks required to monetize litigation assets are viewed as too steep. That was already the case in a strong economy, let alone the current downturn. COVID-19 and the subsequent economic downturn are causing corporations to lose value each day, leading to tighter budgets and greater pressure on all departments. At the same time, they must find revenue wherever they can.

“Corporate legal departments have the potential to become drivers of revenue if they can successfully monetize litigation claims,” said Eric Blinderman, CEO of Therium US and one of the publication’s co-authors. “In this economy it is more important than ever that they do just that. We developed this eBook to assist in-house counsel in identifying potential high-value claims and mitigating a broad range of internal and external risks as they formalize a program for initiating plaintiff-side litigation.”

After using the first chapter to lay the groundwork for the story of affirmative claims, future chapters will include:

  • Structuring an affirmative recovery program
  • Identifying claims
  • Selecting claims and managing risk
  • Financing litigation
  • Managing outside counsel
  • Making settlement decisions
  • Achieving buy-in (and maintaining it)

Chapter 1 Abstract 

In 2004, the legal department of E.I. du Point de Nemours and Co. launched an initiative to maximize its recoveries and contribute to the company’s bottom line. “When a certain amount is at stake,” DuPont’s then-assistant general counsel Tom Sager said, “we have an obligation as counsel to the company to pursue claims.”

To those outside the legal profession, this posture may sound unremarkable. But historically, recovering such funds has not been a priority. DuPont’s strategy changed all that. In 2004, its law department recovered $100 million for the company. Within a decade, it had recovered more than $2.6 billion. That figure is enough to establish the obvious benefit of a program like DuPont’s, known as “affirmative recovery programs.” And they have many additional advantages. Among them is the satisfaction of achieving the oft stated but rarely realized goal of making a legal department a profit center rather than a cost center.

Which raises an obvious question: why aren’t more companies following their lead?

In recent years, corporate legal departments have taken tentative steps toward adopting a more aggressive mindset. Three-quarters of the Fortune 500 have filed lawsuits as plaintiffs in what could be called “affirmative recovery” matters. But a much smaller portion of the Fortune 500 have created their own programs.

Complacency and tradition are the two most basic forces that have kept legal departments from asserting legal claims. Conventional wisdom has long held that it’s not the general counsel’s job to make money for the company. Instead, lawyers served the singular function of defending the company from legal risk. And the generally defensive orientation of in-house legal departments made a comfortable fit with the risk-averse nature of its lawyers.

Despite the forces keeping legal departments from bringing lawsuits, they have gradually begun to adopt a plaintiff’s mentality. We can trace the origins of the movement as far back as the 1980s, when a financial crisis led Texas Instruments and IBM to turn to their legal departments for patent licensing revenue. These and similar efforts revealed that legal departments could do more than protect companies from risk. They could become strategic actors generating meaningful revenue.

With the Great Recession of 2008, companies came under great pressure to reduce costs, and legal departments were no longer immune. The field of “legal operations,” devoted to imposing discipline on the spending of corporate legal departments, was born. Corporate legal budgets now needed defending, and previously untouchable decisions came under scrutiny. In short, corporate legal departments began to be judged on business terms. Today, the timing is right for another leap in the adoption of affirmative recovery programs. The impediments to bringing affirmative claims have largely eroded, and the riddle of funding affirmative cases has been addressed by the use of litigation funding. And the thirst for revenue from corporate legal departments has not been this palpable since the Great Recession.

About Therium

Therium is a leading global provider of litigation, arbitration and specialty legal finance active in England and Wales and internationally since 2009.  Over that period, Therium has funded claims with a total value exceeding £34 billion including many of the largest and most high profile funded cases.  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 and arbitration funding, funding law firms and funding portfolios of litigation and arbitration claims.  This track record enabled the firm to raise the then single largest investment into litigation finance of £200 million in 2015. Therium has raised over $1 billion since its foundation, which includes the latest £325 million fund raised in February 2019.

Therium has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in litigation finance, pioneering the combined use of insurance tools alongside funding vehicles, and introducing portfolio funding products into the UK.  The firm’s ability to develop innovative funding arrangements and bespoke financial solutions for litigants and law firms complements its unmatched experience and rigorous approach to funding a wide range of commercial disputes throughout the world.

www.therium.com

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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.