Trending Now

Validity Finance Expands into California with Addition of Former Covington & Burling Litigator Mark Chen and Several Distinguished Advisors

Validity Finance Expands into California with Addition of Former Covington & Burling Litigator Mark Chen and Several Distinguished Advisors

Leading litigation funder Validity Finance  announced it has expanded to California, adding experienced litigator Mark Chen as portfolio counsel in Los Angeles.  Mr. Chen was previously special counsel with Covington & Burling in LA, representing clients in complex commercial disputes, including major intellectual property cases in the entertainment sector. In his new role, he will help assess Validity’s funding opportunities with law firms and businesses in Southern California and the West Coast.

Validity also named as senior advisors two high-profile California litigators, Thomas J. Nolan and J. Thomas Hannan. Mr. Nolan is trial counsel in the Los Angeles office of Pearson, Simon & Warshaw; Mr. Hannan is of counsel to Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller in San Francisco. In their new advisory roles, they will assist Validity in furthering relationships with law firms and entities in need of litigation finance for commercial disputes. Additionally, Validity appointed noted litigation valuation expert Gene Phillips as a special advisor. The L.A.-based Mr. Phillips will assist Validity in quantitative analysis, damages valuation and strategic relationship-building. Mr. Philips is CEO of PF2 Securities, which provides research and expert witnesses in large-scale financial disputes. With its latest expansion coinciding with the firm’s fourth anniversary, Validity has achieved a national footprint, with offices in New York, Houston, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. “We’re excited to establish a presence in Southern California, one of the country’s most robust legal markets and home to some of the nation’s busiest civil court venues,” said Validity CEO Ralph Sutton. “We’ve previously collaborated with Los Angeles-based trial firms in funding successful matters and the time was right to plant our flag here,” he added. “We’re especially pleased to bring on Mark Chen from Covington to enhance our LA operations. He brings a strong track record representing both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes cases, including many high-profile matters.

While at Covington & Burling, Mr. Chen litigated matters for clients across a range of industries, including tech, healthcare and entertainment. His representations included multiple matters for the U.S. Olympic Committee, Sony Music Entertainment, and others.

Mr. Chen graduated summa cum laude from Cornell Law School, where he was an editor of the Cornell Law Review, and later clerked for Hon. Stanley Marcus, Senior U.S. Circuit Judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Mr. Chen holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

New Senior Advisors Tom Nolan and Tom Hannan

Commenting on the appointment of Messrs. Nolan and Hannan as senior advisors, Mr. Sutton said, “Tom and Tom are both veteran California trial lawyers who have served as lead counsel in numerous major cases. They bring important perspective, expertise and broad relationships based on decades of successful trial practice. We’re fortunate to welcome them as senior advisors as we grow our West Coast presence.” A fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Nolan is one of the nation’s preeminent trial lawyers, with broad experience in complex commercial disputes including class actions, antitrust, fraud, contract, and intellectual property matters. His extensive trial record includes winning jury verdicts of more than $1billion for his clients and defeating claims exceeding $15 billion asserted against his clients. Mr. Nolan started his career in public service as a federal prosecutor, during which time he served as the chief of fraud and special prosecutions in the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office. He then spent nearly 30 years in big law at Howrey, Skadden and Latham & Watkins before joining Pearson, Simon & Warshaw in 2020. Mr. Hannan is an accomplished trial lawyer with a national reputation and noted success representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial cases.  Mr. Hannan served as judicial law clerk to renowned US district judge Alfonso J. Zirpoli in the Northern District of California. He practiced law for over 40 years with his equally well-known partner Ron Lovitt at Lovitt & Hannan. Together, they successfully litigated a wide variety of professional negligence, fraud and complex commercial matters.

New Special Advisory Role for Gene Phillips

Commenting on Gene Phillips’ addition to Validity’s distinguished roster of outside advisors, Mr. Sutton said, “While the law firms and clients with whom we work are the ones ultimately litigating our funded matters – whether bringing cases or negotiating settlements – it’s essential that our due diligence includes strong economic and data-driven analysis in helping us deploy our capital. That process will benefit tremendously from the contributions of Gene Phillips as special advisor. Gene is one of the industry’s leading litigation experts, and his large network of lawyers and experts will add strategic depth to Validity”. Mr. Phillips holds a BSc degree in mathematics and applied mathematics, and a BSc Hons degree in the Mathematics of Financial Derivatives, from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

About Validity Validity is a commercial litigation finance company that provides non-recourse investments for a wide variety of commercial disputes. Validity’s mission is to make a meaningful difference in our clients’ experience of the legal system. We focus on fairness, innovation, and clarity. For more, visit www.validityfinance.com.

Secure Your Funding Sidebar

Announcements

View All

Harris Pogust Joins Bryant Park Capital as Senior Advisor

By John Freund |

Bryant Park Capital (“BPC”) a leading middle market investment bank and market leader in the litigation finance sector, is pleased to announce that Harris Pogust has joined the firm as a Senior Advisor.  Harris (Mr. Pogust) is one of the best known and prominent attorneys in the mass tort and class action fields, he was the founding partner and Chairman of Pogust Goodhead worldwide until early 2024 and is currently working with Trial Lawyers for a Better Tomorrow, a charity Harris founded, to help children reach their educational potential all over the world.  Harris’ life work has been to deliver justice for those who have been damaged or injured through the negligence or bad faith of others.

“We are thrilled to have Harris as part of our team.  His knowledge, experience and relationships in the litigation finance sector are of great value to Bryant Park and our clients.  As the litigation finance world becomes more competitive, complex and challenging, having an expert like Harris on our team is invaluable,” said Joel Magerman, Managing Partner of Bryant Park.

Harris’ efforts, in conjunction with Bryant Park will focus on assisting law firms and funders in developing strategies to more efficiently fund their operations and cases and assist them in establishing the right relationships for future growth.  Harris commented, “I have been fortunate to have been a practicing attorney and partner in law firms for over 35 years focused on building and growing a worldwide book of business in the class action/mass tort field.  That required significant capital and throughout my career I have raised over $1 billion for my firms.  I have learned what works and what doesn’t.  I have seen both the risks and rewards in this industry.  I look forward to being able to work with law firms and funders to assist them in putting the right strategies in place with Bryant Park and bringing capital and liquidity to help them grow and flourish.”

About Bryant Park Capital

Bryant Park Capital is an investment bank providing capital raising, M&A and corporate finance advisory services to emerging growth and middle market public and private companies. BPC has deep expertise and a diversified, well-founded breadth of experience in a number of sectors, including specialty finance & financial services. BPC has raised various forms of credit, growth equity, and assisted in mergers and acquisitions for its clients. Our professionals have completed more than 400 assignments representing an aggregate transaction value of over $30 billion.

For more information about Bryant Park Capital, please visit www.bryantparkcapital.com.

Therium Capital Advisors Launched to Provide Litigation Finance Advisory Services

By John Freund |

Therium Capital Advisors (TCA) announced today the launch of its independent advisory services business dedicated to helping claimants, law firms and corporates to source, structure and secure litigation finance. TCA offers end-to-end support including funding strategy, investor engagement, financial modelling, deal structuring, ongoing case management and secondary market advisory. Based in London, the firm is advising on deals in the UK, continental Europe and Australia.

Therium Capital Advisors is led by litigation funding pioneer Neil Purslow and co-founded by investment banker Harry Stockdale. Neil has over 16 years of experience in litigation finance, raising capital and investing worldwide across all forms of litigation finance from single cases funding through to portfolio, corporate and law firm funding arrangements. Harry was previously head of UK M&A at investment bank Haitong with twenty years of experience in investment banking, advising law firms and litigation funders on complex financial transactions.  

TCA is the first advisory firm to provide clients with advisory services that are backed by a deep understanding of litigation finance investing coupled with the financial and transactional expertise of investment banking. Therium Capital Advisors bridges the gap between claimants, law firms and corporates on the one side and existing and new sources of institutional capital on the other.  Through the combined expertise of its founders, TCA opens up the investor universe that is available to clients and drives quality in the investment propositions, efficiency in the funding process and competition in the funding market.

TCA exclusively advises claimants, law firms and corporates, ensuring that it remains conflict-free.  The firm advises across the full range of legal assets including single case and portfolio funding, law firm financing, financing options for corporates and existing portfolios of legal assets.   

Neil Purslow, co-founder and Managing Partner of Therium Capital Advisors said: “We are at a pivotal moment in the development of the legal finance industry, given the relative paucity of traditional funding capital available.  However, we are seeing a shift towards new categories of investors in legal assets who want exposure to this uncorrelated asset class. By leveraging our unrivalled experience across both litigation funding and investment banking, we are assisting our clients to navigate this landscape with confidence, speed and understanding, and we provide them with access to a broader set of funding options and to meet their funding needs efficiently and cost effectively.”

Harry Stockdale, co-founder and Partner of Therium Capital Advisors said: “We are bringing an investment banking mind set to the litigation funding world which has developed largely without the benefit of specialist advisors. This professionalisation of the funding process will make the sector more efficient and accessible to a wider audience of investors in addition to the traditional litigation funders. We are already seeing the benefit of this, for both clients and investors alike, and is part of the maturing of litigation finance as an asset class.”

Therium Capital Advisors provides the following services to claimants, law firms and corporates:

  • Deal Preparation: Preparing funding propositions to be investment-ready.
  • Capital Sourcing: Identifying and engaging with suitable funders and capital providers from across the spectrum of legal assets investors.
  • Financial Modelling and Analysis: Providing robust financial modelling and scenario analysis to evaluate deal structures and model returns.
  • Investor Materials and Outreach: Advising on the preparation of investor-facing materials and documentation, inserting rigour and discipline to ensure efficiency in the funding process.
  • Co-Funding: Advising on the identification and engagement of potential co-investors to optimise risk-sharing and capital raising.
  • Negotiating Funding Terms: Leading negotiations with investors to secure terms which balance commercial viability with the interests of the funded party.
  • Deal Structuring and Documentation: Advising on deal structures and overseeing the drafting and execution of all relevant documentation.
  • Post-Funding Case Management: Providing ongoing monitoring, reporting, and servicing support post-funding on behalf of the claimant, to manage risks and support positive case outcomes.
  • Secondary Market Advisory: Advising on secondary transactions of existing legal assets including sub-funding arrangements and exits.

More information can be found at: www.therium.com/theriumcapitaladvisors

Gryphon Law Launches as Contingency-Fee Firm for International Disputes

By John Freund |

A new player is entering the international disputes arena—this time with a distinct twist on legal funding. Gryphon Law has officially launched as the first law firm globally to specialize in contingency-fee representation for cross-border disputes.

Gryphon Law aims to offer an alternative to third-party litigation funding by shouldering the cost of legal claims in return for a share of the outcome. Based in New York and with plans to expand into London and Miami, the firm targets clients who might otherwise turn to traditional funders, offering instead to partner with them directly through performance-based fee structures.

The firm was founded by John Templeman, a seasoned international disputes attorney qualified in New York, England & Wales, and Australia, who previously held roles at leading global law firms. Templeman has assembled a multilingual team capable of handling the full lifecycle of international litigation and arbitration in English, Spanish, and French—from initiation to enforcement. Co-founding the venture is Daura Dutour, an 18-year disputes veteran with experience in the U.S., France, and Haiti, supported by three additional associates.

Templeman stated: "I believe there's a real opportunity in the market to provide clients with an appealing alternative to third party funding, particularly in the sub-US$30 million value range below where many of the funders operate. I've been fortunate to assemble a world-class team of disputes lawyers who share this vision – we're looking forward to contributing to this rapidly evolving field.”

Gryphon Law’s business model suggests a more vertically integrated approach to litigation finance—embedding the funder role within the law firm itself. For clients, this could mean greater alignment of interests, fewer intermediaries, and possibly reduced costs when compared to traditional third-party funding arrangements.