WWL Thought Leaders Third-Party Funding

THOUGHT LEADERS

Interviews with the pinnacle of the profession

Read interviews with the world’s leading lawyers and experts.

Introduction

THOUGHT LEADERS

Contents

I am delighted to present WWL Thought Leaders: Third-Party Funding 2022, which brings together the insight, expertise and wisdom of some of the world’s foremost third-party funding lawyers and experts in a single book. Through thousands of votes and nominations in the course of our research, the market has identified that the practitioners in the following pages are among the very best in the world in their field, without exception.

Who’s Who Legal has been researching legal markets since 1996 and now covers 35 practice areas and over 150 countries. Entry into our guides is, of itself, no easy feat, with fewer than half of those nominated obtaining a listing. The bar to be considered a thought leader for third-party funding is even higher: only those listed lawyers who obtained the highest number of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market sources in our most recent research cycle were considered.

Through interviews with the practitioners themselves, WWL Thought Leaders: ThirdParty Funding aims to shine a light on what puts these practitioners at the apogee of the global third-party funding market. They are worthy of special mention owing not only to their expertise and experience advising on some of the world’s most significant and cutting-edge matters, but also their ability to innovate and inspire.

Their experience and understanding of the legal world and their unique insights into the area will no doubt be illuminating and instructive to a wide spectrum of readers, whether clients, corporate counsel, established practitioners, those starting out in the law, or anyone with an interest in the practice of law at the very highest level.

This edition of WWL Thought Leaders: Third-Party Funding features Q&As with two individuals with decades of years of combined experience in the field between them. I would like to thank the participants who gave us their valuable time to answer our questions and make the book possible. It is rare to have so much third-party funding expertise concentrated in one place and we hope you will agree that their responses make fascinating reading.

Rupert Wilson

Head of research & analytics, Who’s Who Legal June 2022 Eric Blinderman James Little Directory

Head of research & analytics

Rupert Wilson

Head of research: US Penelope Williams

Deputy head of research

Charlotte Riley

Senior research analysts

Conor Manders, Alex Bottomley

Research analysts

Ammara Saleem, Tabia Lui, Olivia Harrison, Kirsty Carvalho, Johana Shonibare

Content production manager

Robert Harris

Senior production editors

Katie Adams, Harry Turner, William Holt

Production editor

Ellen Desmond

Junior production editor

Nathaniel Balch

Head of business development

Adam Landes

Business development manager Kiteria Yiu

Account managers Nick Townsend, Bilikis Olowolekomoh, Sam Limbu, Leon Hartley, Hadassah Maitaram

Customer service executive Harry Marloe

Publisher Tom Barnes

Cover

BiographyBlindermanEric

Mr. Blinderman is the CEO of Therium Capital Management (USA), Inc. Mr. Blinderman launched Therium’s US opera tions in 2016 and has overseen its growth. Globally, Therium has invested in disputes valued in excess of $74 billion. Prior to Therium, Mr. Blinderman was international litigation counsel at Proskauer and served in Iraq as an associate general counsel of the Coalition Provisional Authority and as chief legal counsel and asso ciate deputy to the Regime Crimes Liaison’s Office. Capital Management (USA), Inc. New

What key trends are currently developing in international third-party funding?

There are many trends developing in inter national third-party funding. First, the inter national legal community is increasingly familiar with litigation finance and the tools the industry can provide to assist practi tioners in developing their practices. Second, courts and tribunals are becoming more familiar with litigation finance and seem to have accepted its role in ensuring the parity of resources for litigants. Third, claimants of all types (large and small) have become more aware of how the litigation finance industry operates. Collectively, this has led to a robust increase in diversity of claim types and product types, and a general increase in deal flow for litigation finance firms.

How does your experience in high-level international dispute resolution enhance your role and approach as Chief Execu tive Officer at Therium?

Having practiced law for many years as a complex commercial litigator, I am very familiar with the nuances of litigation tactics and strategy. I also understand the demands that are placed upon busy lawyers as they manage their practices. I take these lessons to heart when managing Therium’s business and try to ensure that our processes are user friendly, do not waste the time of attorneys and claimants, and provide additional value for all stake holders in the litigation finance process.

claimants, and corporations. Given this diversity, Therium tries to devote signifi cant resources to each of these tranches of opportunities and remain responsive to every inquiry that crosses our desks.

How is the market moved away from single case funding to portfolio funding?

As law firms and corporate clients have become more sophisticated about the benefits of litigation finance, they have sought to bundle multiple claims into a variety of portfolio products. In so doing, such clients can obtain significant price breaks compared to traditional single case financing, while the funder is able to reduce its risk. This evolution is beneficial to all, and I expect such products to consume an increasing amount of Therium’s invest ment capital in the years ahead.

How do you seek to educate law firms and clients about third-party funding when entering new markets?

When entering new markets, Therium pursues all the traditional educational steps that one would take in more mature markets. By conducting in-person meetings or telephone briefings with potential clients, we can answer any ques tions, explain the process, and resolve outstanding issues at an early stage.

hard work, diligence, and efficiency. While those may not sound like differentiators, what we are really doing is preparing for our diligence calls so we can focus on the issues that matter and manage expecta tions throughout the underwriting and case management process so there are no surprises. We also remain available throughout the lifecycle of any case we finance (at all hours of the day) to trouble shoot and assist as the litigation process progresses.

Why did you decide to take a position as Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School?

I taught international commercial arbi tration at the Vanderbilt Law School for several years and took the position to give back to the legal community. In short, I take a tremendous amount of personal satis faction from teaching the next genera tion of attorneys about the litigation and arbitration process, and I enjoyed my time teaching immensely.

What advice would you give to up-and-coming generations considering a career in third-party funding?

As the market has matured, funders are increasingly no longer relying solely on law firms to bring in work. How have you seen this materialise in your own work?

Therium’s pipeline is driven by a variety of sources, which include but are not limited to law firms, brokers, other funders, individual

Further, Therium will always seek to partner with trusted intermediaries in any new market to ensure that any products it offers are tailored to the individual needs of that market, which may differ from other markets in which Therium operates.

How does Therium seek to differentiate itself from other competitors when competing for the same pool of cases?

Therium seeks to differentiate itself from competitors by focusing on the basics:

All young attorneys should work hard, focus on practice areas that interest them, and learn how the judicial process works. Judicial clerkships (particularly at the trial court level) can help, although that is not a requirement. They should also try to become conversant in basic investing and financing concepts. By combining sound legal skills and judgment with a strong financial background, any smart, motivated individual can succeed in this industry. says: Eric Blinderman gains extensive recommendations from peers and clients alike, who report his “excellent reliability”, “great practice” and “very canny and smart approach”.

whoswholegal.com/thought-leaders

Drumcliffe LLC – USA Washington,

BiographyLittleJames

James Little is the principal of Drumcliffe, a litigation finance fund dedicated exclusively to financing and managing the recovery of assets for the victims of global fraud and corruption. Prior to founding Drumcliffe in 2010, Mr. Little spent several years in the private equity and national security industries. He is widely credited with pioneering the asset recovery finance industry in the early 2000s.

What attracted you to a career in third-party funding?

In the early 2000s I worked for a private equity fund where I was asked to explore setting up a litigation finance fund investing in commercial disputes. Along the way I met some attorneys who told me the victims of financial fraud rarely received restitution solely because of a lack of capital, despite methods being available in global legal systems to locate, freeze, and recover stolen assets. I knew I could solve that problem, so I left my job and founded Drumcliffe.

How has the market changed since you first started practising?

My field in the overall litigation funding sector is highly specialized, but for my own part, the asset recovery claims we are investing in have gotten exponentially larger than the matters we used to see ten years ago. They require more capital, but the potential returns for investors and victims have also increased.

How might law firms, hedge funds and insurance compa nies entering the third-party funding market affect the field?

Again, due to the specialized nature of our funds, we don’t view any of these

new entrants into the third-party funding market as competitors. To the contrary, we are becoming increasingly intrigued by some of the new insurance products being marketed to us. If we have substantially de-risked a claim and can pay to insure its outcome, other investment funds will be willing to provide us and our clients with liquidity at reasonable discounts. Those secondary markets give us and our clients the flexibility to sell or hold onto matters as we see fit.

Have you noticed any shifts in clients from certain sectors seeking third-party funding over the past year? If so, why?

We find our sovereign and bankruptcy trustee clients are becoming increas ingly comfortable working with us, but we attribute this change to our track record of success more so than to any macroeconomic changes.

What trends have been preva lent in the types of cases seek ing funding over the last year?

The size of the matters for which we try to obtain restitution are getting much larger than even a few years ago. A majority of the claims we’re funding now have putative debts well in excess of $1 billion.

What advantages and disad vantages could accompany the introduction of stricter regula tions in third-party funding?

We are already fairly well regulated as investment professionals. While we would encourage increased ethical and ESG guidelines in the third-party funding industry, I feel additional, industry-specific financial regulations would be restrictive.

Where, in your opinion, does the future of third-party fund ing lie?

I feel as though the mainstream litigation funding market is now saturated, so in order to find attractive returns, investors will increasingly look for funds with niche strategies where there is less competition and yield compression.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Someone once told me, “you can never go wrong by doing the right thing.” My part ners and I use that phrase as a guiding principle in the way we treat our investors, our providers, and our clients.

WWL says: James Little is acclaimed as a go-to specialist for litigation funding in relation to financing and managing the recovery of assets in global fraud and corruption cases.

whoswholegal.com/thought-leaders

Thought Leaders in Third Party Funding 2022

Australia

Clive Bowman , Omni Bridgeway

Neill Brennan , Augusta Ventures

Simon Dluzniak , Therium

Oliver Gayner , Omni Bridgeway

Louise Hird , Therium

Susanna Khouri , Augusta Ventures

Tom McDonald , Vannin Capital

Tania Sulan , Omni Bridgeway

Susanna Taylor , Litigation Capital Management

John Walker , CASL Governance Ltd Andrew Watson , Maurice Blackburn

Austria

Jonathan Barnett , Nivalion AG Belgium

Erik Bomans , Deminor Recovery Services

Olivia de Patoul , Deminor Recovery Services

Brazil

Leonardo Viveiros de Castro , Leste Litigation Finance

Canada Ontario

Paul Rand , Omni Bridgeway

Quebec

Pierre-Jérôme Bouchard , Omni Bridgeway

Annie Lespérance , Omni Bridgeway Naomi Loewith , Omni Bridgeway

Geoff Moysa , Omni Bridgeway

England

Craig Arnott , Burford Capital

Simon Burnett , Balance Legal Capital

John Byrne , Therium

Adrian Chopin , Bench Walk Advisors

Leeor Cohen , Burford Capital

Steven Cooklin , Manolete

Alistair Croft , Omni Bridgeway

Bill Cruft , Innsworth

Christiane Deniger , Burford Capital Matthew Denney , Litigation Capital Management

Susan Dunn , Harbour

Ola Eriksson , Fortress Investment Group

Jörn Eschment , Burford Capital James Foster , Litigation Capital Management

Steven Friel , Woodsford Litigation Funding

Ian Garrard , Innsworth

Daniel Hall , Burford Capital Robert Hanna , Augusta Ventures

Oliver Hayes , Balance Legal Capital Rosie Ioannou , Fortress Investment Group

Andrew Jones , Fortress Investment Group

Mark King , Harbour Simon Latham , Augusta Ventures

Oliver Lawson , Augusta Ventures

Carrie Jantsch Leonard , Orchard Global Asset Management LLP

Ayse Lowe , Bench Walk Advisors

Ellora MacPherson , Harbour Maurice MacSweeney , Harbour

James Mackinnon , Burford Capital Hugo Marshall , Litigation Capital Management

Timothy Mayer , Therium

Iain McKenny , Profile Investment Lara Melrose , Orchard Global Asset Management LLP

Mitesh Modha , Woodsford Litigation Funding

Charlie Morris , Woodsford Litigation Funding

Ben Moss , Orchard Global Asset Management LLP

Marius Nasta , Redress Solutions Stephen O’Dowd , Harbour

Theo Paeffgen , Harbour Nick Pontt , Affiniti Finance

Neil Purslow , Therium

Michael Redman , Burford Capital

Robert Rothkopf , Balance Legal Capital Sindhu Sivakumar , Innsworth

Mick Smith , Burford Capital

Christian Stuerwald , Calunius Capital

Martin Tonnby , Harbour David Walker , Deminor Litigation Funding

Oliver Way , Harbour Louis Young , Augusta Ventures Jacqueline Young , Augusta Ventures

Michael Zuckerman , Redress Solutions Mark de la Haye , Augusta Ventures

France

Vincent Boca , Profile Investment Anastasia Bondarenko , Fortress Investment Group

Alain Grec , Profile Investment

Yasmin Mohammad , Fortress Investment Group

Paulina Touroude , Profile Investment

Germany

Stefan Kirsten , Nivalion AG

Thomas Kohlmeier , Nivalion AG Dina Komor , Omni Bridgeway

Edgar Stieglitz , Foris AG

Hong Kong

Cheng-Yee Khong , Omni Bridgeway Netherlands

Alina Streckyte , Omni Bridgeway

Wieger Wielinga , Omni Bridgeway Kees de Visser , Omni Bridgeway

Peru

Narghis Torres , Lex Finance

Singapore

Tom Glasgow , Omni Bridgeway

Arvindran Manoosegaran , Omni Bridgeway

Roger Milburn , Litigation Capital Management

Quentin Pak , Burford Capital

Ruth Stackpool-Moore , Omni Bridgeway

Marjolein van den Bosch-Broeren , Omni Bridgeway

Spain

Ignacio Delgado Larena Avellaneda , ComClaims

Switzerland Geneva Jurriaan Braat , Omni Bridgeway

St Gallen

Hubert Schwaerzler , Liti-Link

Zug

Isabelle Berger , Nivalion AG

Franziska Studer , Nivalion AG

Marcel Wegmueller , Nivalion AG

Zurich

Gian Kull , Multiplicity Partners USA California

Fiona A. Chaney , Omni Bridgeway

District of Columbia

James Little , Drumcliffe LLC • Q&A

Jonathan Molot , Burford Capital

Illinois

Michael A Nicholas , Longford Capital Management

Sanjay Desai , Marsh

William P. Farrell Jr , Longford Capital Management

Adam Gill , GLS Capital

New York

Jim Batson , Omni Bridgeway

Peter Benzian , Burford Capital

Lauren Bernstein , Curiam

Eric Blinderman , Therium • Q&A

Christopher Bogart , Burford Capital

Jeffery Commission , Burford Capital

Owen Cyrulnik , Curiam

Julia Gewolb , Validity Finance

Patrick J Dempsey , Burford Capital

Aaron Katz , Parabellum Capital LLC

David J Kerstein , Validity Finance

A Elizabeth Korchin , Therium

John Lazar , Burford Capital

Angela Ni , Parabellum Capital LLC

Giulia Previti , Burford Capital

Andrew Saker , Omni Bridgeway

Moshe Schwartz , Parabellum Capital LLC

Howard Shams , Parabellum Capital LLC

Ralph J Sutton , Validity Finance

Boaz Weinstein , Lake Whillans

William Weisman , Therium

Aviva Will , Burford Capital

Pennsylvania

Sarina Singh , Woodsford Litigation Funding Texas

Amy Geise , Omni Bridgeway

Laina Hammond , Validity Finance

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