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Validity Finance Welcomes University of Chicago Law Student for 2020 Equal Access Fellowship

June 24, 2020

Validity Finance Welcomes University of Chicago Law Student for 2020 Equal Access Fellowship

NEW YORK (June 24, 2020) – Leading litigation funder Validity Finance has selected University of Chicago Law School law student Amber S. Stewart for its 2020 Equal Access Fellowship. The program, launched last year, provides a 10-week paid summer fellowship to first-year law students of diverse backgrounds to spend the first half of their summer at Validity learning the basic principles of litigation funding before spending the second half working at the non-profit of their choice. Validity is one of the only funders to provide such a program for first-year law students.

Validity elected to maintain its full 10-week summer program, notwithstanding the logistical difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Stewart will work with the team at Validity for the first five weeks of her fellowship, beginning mid-July. She will assist in analyzing potential case investments, participating in meetings with claimants and lawyers, drafting articles and conducting legal research on topics related to litigation and dispute funding. Like the rest of the Validity team, she expects to be working remotely during these five weeks. For the second part of her fellowship Ms. Stewart has elected to work at the Corporate Accountability Lab, a Chicago-based international human rights organization that develops legal tools for holding corporations accountable when they commit human rights and environmental violations. “We’re looking forward to having Amber join us this summer as our 2020 Equal Access Fellow,” said Validity founder and CEO Ralph Sutton. “Despite constraints the pandemic has placed on businesses across the country, we’re happy to convene our program for a second year. Our team is enthusiastic about working closely with Amber, who has a remarkable academic resumé and background.” A Florida native, Ms. Stewart had stiff competition from over three dozen applicants from top-tier U.S. law schools. Candidates were asked to submit academic transcripts, and submit essays addressing their interest in litigation funding and describing how they have overcome personal challenges. As a rising 2L, Ms. Stewart is part of the University of Chicago Law School’s Doctoroff Business Leadership Program — a certificate-granting track for high-achieving students that blends an MBA curriculum into a three-year law school degree. She is also Vice President of the school’s Black Law Students Association (Earl B. Dickerson Chapter). Ms. Stewart obtained an A.B. in Art History and Gender & Sexuality Studies from Princeton University in 2015. “I was motivated to apply for the fellowship program in part because of Validity’s mission of making the civil justice system more accessible and equitable, which especially resonated with me,” said Ms. Stewart. “I’m hoping the summer will help me better understand the economic and business case for litigation funding, and what kinds of disputes can best benefit from third-party finance solutions.” Equal Access Fellows work an initial five weeks at Validity and have the option of spending the balance of the summer at the firm or a public service organization of their choice. Validity pays the fellows’ salary for the entire 10-week program. Last year’s inaugural fellows, Jarrett Lewis and Amanda Gonzalez Burton, remain in touch with the Validity Finance team, and will be connecting with Ms. Stewart as part of her orientation. Mr. Lewis is a rising 3L at Georgetown University Law School and managing editor of operations for the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics; he will be participating in Debevoise & Plimpton LLP’s summer associate program. Ms. Burton, a rising 3L at the NYU School of Law, will be summering at Cooley LLP. For more on last year’s fellows, visit: https://validity-finance.com/news/summer_fellowship_2019/ Mr. Sutton commented, “As our corner of the legal profession continues to evolve, we want to draw new entrants from diverse communities, who can bring important perspective on disparities in access to justice. Our fellowship program provides law students an excellent grounding in the fundamental best practices of litigation funding and an opportunity for our team to maintain a mentoring relationship as the fellows continue their path in the legal profession.”

About Validity Validity is a commercial litigation finance company that provides businesses, law firms and individuals with non-recourse financing for a wide variety of commercial disputes. Validity was founded in 2018 with $250 million in committed capital, one of the largest first-round capital raises in the U.S. market. The firm announced an additional $50 million in committed capital in 2019. Validity believes that capital and legal expertise combine to help solve legal problems on behalf of clients. Validity’s mission is to make a meaningful difference for clients by focusing on fairness, innovation, and clarity. Validity is committed to developing a diverse and inclusive workforce in its own offices and within the legal profession as a whole. Validity embraces a broad definition of diversity, encompassing race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and LGBTQ background, as well as individuals from underrepresented social, economic, religious, and geographic backgrounds. Equal access to justice; equal access to opportunity— this is what Validity believes is fair and right. For more, visit www.validity-finance.com.

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Announcements Commercial

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.

Announcements Commercial

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

Announcements Commercial

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.