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Therium’s Financial Commitments To Access To Justice Causes Surpass £1.7m

December 15, 2020

Therium’s Financial Commitments To Access To Justice Causes Surpass £1.7m

Jersey, 15th December 2020: Therium Access, the not-for-profit arm of global litigation funder Therium Capital Management, has announced the recipients of its latest grant round. The Autumn 2020 grants have been awarded to six organisations and brings the total number of organisations receiving grants to 32 with over £1.7m committed since its inception in 2019.

The Autumn 2020 grant round remained focused on the issues exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a focus on supporting work which is difficult to find funding for elsewhere, scalable delivery models, preservation of legal specialisation and work of strategic importance. Areas of law such as employment and housing were focussed on as these services face a huge surge in demand. Issues facing vulnerable young people were also prioritised.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues into 2021, these organisations will continue to serve as a lifeline to the most vulnerable and marginalised in society. Additional grants have been awarded to two current grantees.

The recipients of the Therium Access Autumn 2020 grant round are:

  • Bristol Law Centre: The grant will increase capacity in employment and housing, enabling Bristol Law Centre to deliver a full service including complex advice and casework, in a wider geographical area without the limitations of Legal Aid work.
  • Child Poverty Action Group: The grant is for the continuation of funding for a solicitor in the charity’s strategic litigation team and other various costs as it continues to promote and protect the rights of children and families and maximise family incomes.
  • Legal Action Group: The grant is for a new Housing Possession Duty Desk: a practical guide. The Guide will provide a practical, accessible and affordable source of information for advisers at Housing Possession Court Duty Schemes.
  • Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens: The grant is towards PRCBC’s core costs to support delivery of their pro bono strategic casework that ensures young people are aware of and able to exercise their rights to British citizenship.
  • South West London Law Centre: This grant will fund a Housing Court Crisis Navigator who will give practical help and support to deal with the underlying issues of people seen by their housing and debt teams in Croydon.
  • Youth Legal: The grant is for the salary and associated costs of a part-time Development worker to support Youth Legal’s vital work and to reach out to their communities, develop strong networks, and coordinate projects.

Jeunesse Mensier, Grant Programme Director at Therium Access, said: “Our Autumn 2020 grant round has again shown us the excellent and necessary work that organisations and individuals provide across the country in facilitating access to justice. We are so pleased to be supporting these six impressive and inspiring organisations which help some of the most vulnerable in our society in the areas of citizenship, employment and housing.”

Lord Falconer, Chairman of Therium Access Advisory Committee said: “During such a difficult time, legal advice has never been more important. It’s so brilliant to see Therium Access lead the way and provide much-needed financial support to such worthy organisations that provide free legal advice to strive and reduce the ever-increasing justice gap. We look forward to seeing other funders follow suit.”

Solange Valdez-Symonds, Solicitor and Director of Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens said: “PRCBC’s core activity is assisting, including by litigation, children and young people to secure their rights to British citizenship. This grant from Therium Access is vital for our continued ability to deliver on this – and not only to directly assist more children and young people. It enables us to bring our expertise and experience to bear in challenging the several injustices in policy and practice that deprive so many more children and young people of the security and recognition that is theirs by right through registration of citizenship. Thank you Therium Access.”

Louisa McGeehan, Director of Policy at Child Poverty Action Group said: “Funding from Therium Access Fund for a further year will enable us to continue our award-winning work in ensuring low-income families have access to justice.  The need is greater than ever given the unprecedented number of families claiming universal credit as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. renewed funding will help us in our ongoing work of ensuring that laws relating to social security entitlement are made and applied in compliance with fundamental rule of law requirements and that ordinary individuals will be able to hold the government to account when this is not the case.”

Applications for the Spring 2021 grant round will close on 15th April 2021 with priorities being confirmed in early 2021.

About Therium Access:

Therium Access is the primary expression of Therium’s corporate and social responsibility programme. Therium Access dispenses with the criteria of funding for profit and has the sole purpose of facilitating access to justice.  Therium Access is a mark of Therium’s wider commitment to the pursuit of justice and the rule of law.

Therium Access accepts applications from charities and other entities whose services and projects facilitate access to justice or from those seeking assistance to obtain legal representation on cases (including defence) which have strategic importance. The applicant’s need and the impact of the grant will be important factors in our review process. The deadline for the submission of the next round of grant applications is 15 April 2021. In addition, urgent applications may be considered on an ad hoc basis. Applications need to be made by legal representatives or the entity seeking a grant.  The board of Therium Access is assisted by an Advisory Committee which is chaired by Lord Falconer, former Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Secretary of State for Justice.

Therium Access aims to support access to justice in the broadest terms and considers applications that further the following causes (in no particular order):

  • The right to legal representation or due process;
  • The proper and efficient administration of justice;
  • The advancement of human rights;
  • The promotion of equality of rights and diversity;
  • The protection of children, the elderly, the disabled, minorities, asylum seekers and other vulnerable or disadvantaged groups;
  • The advancement of environmental protection or improvement;
  • The promotion of legal education that furthers the causes listed above; and
  • Any other case or project in which a person, group, or entity will not have access to justice without financial assistance.

Therium Access is intended to be a global initiative. Its initial focus is on the UK and it will be rolled out in other jurisdictions in a number of planned phases.

About Therium Capital Management:

Therium is a leading provider of investment capital to the legal industry and one of the largest, having raised over $1 bn since 2009.  With investment teams in the UK, USA, Australia, Germany and Norway, Therium has funded litigation and arbitration claims exceeding $40 billion including many of the largest and most high profile funded cases in the UK and internationally, including arbitrations under rules of the LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL, LMAA, AAA, CIETAC, ICSID, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce and the Energy Charter Treaty.  Therium has been Top Ranked by Chambers and Partners and Leaders League with investment officers across the UK, Europe, USA and Asia Pac recognised as leading individuals in litigation finance.

Last year to mark the firm’s tenth anniversary, Therium Access was launched as a not-for-profit venture to fund a wide range of access to justice projects and cases – supporting the most vulnerable in our society and helping to bridge the widening justice gap. With its own board composed of eminent figures from the legal community and a dedicated grants officer, Therium Access has made over £1.7 m in financial commitments over the last 22 months to over 32 different organisations. As the first initiative of its kind, Therium has been shortlisted for several awards for launching this ground-breaking initiative, including the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards 2019, the Lexis Nexis Awards 2020 and The Lawyer Awards 2020.

Therium also invests in AI and software projects to accelerate the advancement of the industry. As a founding member of both the ALF, ILFA and the Litigation Funding Working Group, Therium is also committed to shaping the future of legal finance and setting high standards for the industry.

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Court of Appeal Shuts Down BHP’s Attempt to Overturn Mariana Liability Judgment

By John Freund |

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales today refused BHP’s application for permission to appeal the High Court’s landmark liability judgment in the Mariana disaster litigation.

The High Court found BHP responsible for the 2015 collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, concluding that BHP is liable for the disaster under both the Brazilian Civil and Environmental law.

The Court of Appeal heard BHP’s application for permission to appeal the decision on 12 March after BHP was refused permission to appeal by the High Court in January.  BHP asked the court for permission to contest the findings that it was a polluter, and that it had knowledge of the risks associated with the dam before the collapse. The mining company also challenged the finding that all claimants brought their claims in time.

The Court of Appeal’s refusal marks a further victory for the hundreds of thousands of Brazilian victims who have spent over ten years pursuing justice, and a major setback for BHP. The High Court’s liability judgment remains in force, and BHP has exhausted the ordinary routes by which it could seek to overturn it.

In today’s ruling, the court concluded that BHP’s proposed grounds of appeal have no real prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason for the appeal to be heard.  The decision means that the parties will proceed to the trial of Stage 2 of the proceedings, which will determine issues of causation, loss and damages. The trial evidence is to be heard from April 2027 to December 2027, with closing submissions listed for March 2028.

Lord Justice Fraser wrote in the decision: “I do not accept that any of the grounds relating to BHP’s liability for the dam collapse are reasonably arguable. I do not consider that there is any foundation for the different complaints that the trial judge failed to engage with BHP’s case."

Jonathan Wheeler, lead partner for the Mariana litigation at Pogust Goodhead, said: “The Court of Appeal has now joined the High Court in finding that BHP’s grounds of appeal have no real prospect of success - an emphatic and unambiguous outcome. BHP remains liable for the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history, and it will not be given another bite at the cherry.”

“Our clients have waited more than a decade for justice while BHP pursued every procedural avenue to avoid accountability; those avenues are now closed. We are focused on securing the compensation that hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have been owed for far too long.”

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Loopa Finance Wins at the Lexology European Awards 2026 in the Litigation / General Counsel Category

By John Freund |

Loopa Finance has been recognized as the winner in the Litigation – General Counsel Team category at the Lexology European Awards 2026, one of the leading recognitions in the international legal sector.

The award was received in London by Ignacio Delgado, General Counsel Europe at the firm, on behalf of Loopa Finance’s European team, composed of Ignacio Delgado (General Counsel Europe), Marina Gouveia (Investment Manager), Fernando Pérez Lozada (Senior Investment Manager), and Fernando Folgueiro (Managing Partner).

The Lexology European Awards recognize outstanding legal teams across the region through a methodology that combines independent research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and thousands of nominations supported by clients and industry peers, as well as the annual research conducted by the Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) and Client Choice.

The selection process is based on performance evaluations related to effective communication, commercial understanding, technical expertise, strategic management, and team strength, and is supported by a global community of more than 940,000 subscribers.

This recognition positions Loopa Finance’s European team among the leading practitioners in complex litigation and strategic legal management in Europe.

“This award reflects the strength of a team operating across two continents that understands litigation not only from a legal perspective, but also through financial analysis and risk management. It is the result of collective work and a rigorous, strategic approach to structuring complex disputes,” said Delgado during the ceremony.

More Than an Award: Validation of a Model

The award comes at a time of consolidation for the firm. Loopa Finance recently completed its rebranding process, evolving from Qanlex to Loopa Finance and reinforcing an identity aligned with its growth in continental Europe and its broader international positioning.

It also coincides with the closing of Fund III, raising €65 million to finance complex litigation and arbitration across Europe and Latin America, significantly expanding the firm’s investment capacity and supporting the continued growth of its platform in the region.

This milestone adds to the firm’s recent rankings, including its Band 1 classification by Chambers & Partners in Latin America and Europe, its recognition as “Highly Recommended” by Leaders League across multiple jurisdictions, and the inclusion of members of its team among the Thought Leaders in Third-Party Funding by the Lexology Index. Together, these results confirm the strength of Loopa Finance’s model and the consolidation of its team as a reference in the strategic financing of disputes at an international level.

About Loopa Finance

Loopa Finance is an investment fund specializing in the financing and monetization of litigation and arbitration across continental Europe and Latin America, supported by a technology-driven model and rigorous risk analysis. The firm provides capital to cover legal costs or monetize ongoing claims through non-recourse structures, where the recovery of the investment depends exclusively on the successful outcome of the case, assuming the financial risk of the dispute while fully aligning its interests with those of clients and law firms.

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Pravati Capital Partners with SEI to Bring Litigation Finance to Registered Investment Advisors

By John Freund |

One of the oldest litigation finance firms in the United States has announced a strategic partnership aimed at expanding mainstream investor access to the asset class.

As reported by Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, Scottsdale-based Pravati Capital has partnered with financial services firm SEI to provide registered investment advisors with structured access to litigation finance as an alternative investment option. The collaboration will leverage SEI's distribution platform to make litigation funding opportunities available within advisor portfolios.

The partnership reflects growing institutional interest in litigation finance as an alternative asset class. Historically, litigation funding has been difficult for mainstream financial advisors to access on behalf of their clients, with the market largely dominated by specialized funds and institutional investors. The Pravati-SEI arrangement seeks to bridge that gap by creating a more accessible pathway for advisors seeking diversification through non-correlated investments.

The announcement underscores a broader industry shift as litigation finance continues to move from a niche strategy toward greater acceptance within traditional wealth management channels. As the global litigation funding market grows — projected to reach over $25 billion in 2026 — partnerships like this one may signal a new phase of institutional adoption.