CONTENTS Introduction 4 About us 6 What we offer 9 Why choose us? 13 Our values 16 Our team 18 Contact us 22
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The UK legal services market is experiencing profound structural change. Law firms now need a strategic partner they can rely on to help them through uncertain times, while providing the financial resources to take advantage of new opportunities in a flexible and efficient way. We are that partner.
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1. INTRODUCTION
WELCOME TO SPECTRALEGAL
We are a specialised provider of financing and risk management solutions for law firms.
SpectraLegal was formed by the principals of the BridgePoint Financial Group, the leading provider of financing and legal cost indemnities in the Canadian legal services market. Our management team draws on BridgePoint’s pioneering legacy, bringing years of specialised knowledge and experience helping law firms help their clients. We are now expert in creating innovative financing and ATE insurance solutions for legal practices of all sizes across the UK that offer services under CFA and DBA arrangements.
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In essence, we promote access to justice by providing law firms with the financing required to invest in their cases and secure fair compensation for their clients. With the introduction of the Ontario Model in England and Wales, we are now the most experienced and trusted provider of financial services to the legal services market. Valued by our clients for our leadership and expertise, we are confident that no one understands the recent reforms to the UK legal service markets, like SpectraLegal does.
We are unique. No one understands the reforms to the UK legal services market like we do.
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2. ABOUT US
HOW WE STARTED
OUR EXPERTISE
We launched SpectraLegal in 2014 to assist British law firms manage the seismic changes to the legal services market brought about by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act of 2012.
Drawing on our experience assisting over 500 Canadian law firms that have experienced similar challenges, we are uniquely qualified to help UK law firms manage the profound changes transforming their legal practices.
As LASPO mirrored the reforms enacted in Ontario in 2003, in which contingency fees (known as damages based agreements in England and Wales) were introduced, we are uniquely placed to help UK law firms understand the new legal landscape.
Demand for capital is growing among UK law firms. The legal services market is consolidating and greater amounts of capital are required to finance investments in people, technology, marketing, and expert services to support growth.
OUR HERITAGE
Unlike banks, we understand the needs of our law firm clients and have the proprietary know-how and expertise to develop innovative products and services to help them assist their clients. Together we will build a more successful legal practice.
Canadian banks do not understand the litigation process and are similarly unable to value services offered under “at risk” retainer arrangements (CFAs and DBAs). This means that many firms had, and continue to have, insufficient access to capital. We formed BridgePoint in 2005 to provide a specialised form of working capital financing for these Canadian law firms, offering legal services under contingency fee retainer agreements. SpectraLegal extends Bridgepoint’s experience and proprietary expertise to the UK.
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We have the experience and expertise to help UK law firms manage the profound changes impacting the legal services market.
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3. WHAT WE OFFER
We look to the future to develop visionary and unique solutions for tomorrow’s problems.
HOW WE CREATE VALUE We provide our clients with the means to expand their practices and market their services more confidently and effectively. We help our clients strengthen their teams by allowing greater investment in technology, staff training and strategic lateral hires. We facilitate access to justice by giving law firms, our clients, the financial means to protect the legal interests of their own clients. We deliver flexible, innovative solutions that enable law firms to finance and manage their legal practices more effectively.
Some typical examples being, • Increasing working capital • Investing in expert services • Increasing operating cash flow • Recruiting the highest calibre professionals • Investing in technology • Branding • Marketing • Tax payments • Investing in expert services • Increasing working capital • Mergers and acquisitions • Funding CFA and DBA matters • Increasing overdraft headroom • Other value-added services to grow your legal practice
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3. WHAT WE OFFER
We offer our clients a financial service that is bespoke to their business and truly transformational.
FINANCING YOUR BUSINESS Our flexible and innovative lending products and loan facilities provide short and long-term working capital financing solutions to allow law firms to pay disbursements and negotiate better terms with their suppliers. Our facilities uniquely match the cash flow cycle of the law firm complementing existing bank financing.
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ONLINE IN REAL-TIME Our systems utilise technology that allows you to continually track the funding status of your account providing information on how much you can borrow at any time, upload files for draw requests, and facilitate payment either directly or through a cost solicitor’s client account. We value your time and strive to ensure it is spent adding value for your clients.
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4. WHY CHOOSE US?
We have the expertise and experience to understand and address your needs holistically. Banks and other traditional sources of finance are no longer readily available to most law firms, particularly those whose legal practices are primarily CFA and DBA. This is not going to change in the medium to long term. Other finance providers do not understand the risks, unique financing needs, pressures and needs of modern day law firms.
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Our services are flexible. Funding can be used for whatever purpose you decide is necessary for your practice.
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4. WHY CHOOSE US?
FLEXIBLE STRATEGIC CAPITAL We are not just a source of money. We are a value added partner. We have a history of assisting law firms in a number of ways including: • Offering funding solutions to assist law firms develop specific products oriented into new markets (e.g. class action, mass tort, clinical negligence); • Identifying potential acquisition targets or buyers for existing practices or pools of files; • Financing law firm succession and split-offs;
• Assisting with arranging conventional bank financing; • Advising on capital structure; • Developing a complete risk management solution for law firms to both finance and insure litigation risk; • Leveraging our relationships and market knowledge to identify and source financial, administrative, operational and technological expertise to help law firms grow their practices.
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5. OUR VALUES
LEADERSHIP
TRANSFORMATIONAL
We look to the future to develop visionary and unique solutions for tomorrow’s problems. We shape the events and developments that occur in our industry and the wider business environment. For us, knowledge is king. Leadership creates a responsibility to actively educate and share knowledge for the benefit of our clients, peers, and the industry. Through taking the lead, we reinforce our credibility as experts and industry leaders.
Our services promote access to justice, by providing law firms the means to enhance the value of their clients’ legal claims. We think differently. We understand the unique needs of law firms and provide innovative solutions to finance and manage their legal practice better. We offer much more than capital. We are a creative force driving change in the delivery of legal services.
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE TRUST We understand the gravity of the issues our clients face, so we only make appropriate and thoughtful recommendations. We take a measured and consultative approach, taking care to explain the benefits and risks of a proposed solution. We strive to closely align our interests with those of our clients. The solutions we provide are weighted in the interest of our clients. Our expertise enables clients to make the right decisions and avoid costly mistakes. We have built their trust by delivering on our word, and ensuring a fair outcome. Our credibility has been enhanced by the success of our clients.
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We strive for operational excellence that enables us to offer a superior quality of service. We use best practices to develop business systems and processes that allow us to be flexible while offering a highly efficient and effective service. This benefits our clients by providing them with a range of options with faster, more consistent and reliable service, underpinning our credibility as trusted, industry leading experts.
EXPERTISE Industry specific expertise sets us apart from the rest. We understand law firms and the challenging environment in which they operate. We recognise that no one legal firm is the same and each requires their own unique solution to fit their needs. Our professional banking and legal experience provides a unique combination of expertise that enables us to deliver creative, proactive, and flexible solutions. No one else is able to offer services of equal quality and depth.
Leadership creates a responsibility to educate and share knowledge for the benefit of our clients, our peers, and the people who rely on our services.
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6. OUR TEAM
SPECTRALEGAL EUROPE
STEVE CARTER Chief Operating Officer1
JOHN ROSSOS
JAMES PENTURN
DAVID KNOWLES
Chairman & CEO2 Principal & Co-Founder of BridgePoint
President1
Director1
BRIDGEPOINT’S TEAM OFFERING SUPPORT SERVICES
STEPHEN PAUWELS
BRIAN GINSLER
JEFF DAWLEY
GRACE TSANG
Principal & Co-Founder of BridgePoint
Principal & Chief Operating Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Director, Legal Services
1. SpectraLegal Limited 2. SpectraLegal (Ireland) Limited
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SPECTRALEGAL EUROPE
JOHN ROSSOS
JAMES PENTURN
STEVE CARTER
B Comm., LL.B., CFA. Chairman & CEO SpectraLegal (Ireland) Limited, Principal & Co-Founder of BridgePoint
BA (Hons) President SpectraLegal Limited
FCA Chief Operating Officer SpectraLegal Limited
John co-founded BridgePoint Financial Services Inc. in August 2005 and has led the development of new financing and indemnity products and BridgePoint’s entry into new markets in Europe and the Caribbean. He was responsible for introducing financing and indemnity protection for class actions in Canada, which ultimately led to the creation of BridgePoint Indemnity Company (BICO).
Jim is the President of SpectraLegal Limited in the UK. Jim has responsibility for strategy and managing investor relations.
Steve trained as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young), qualifying in 1984.
BICO has pioneered legal cost protection in Canada offering protection for both legal practices and a broad cross section of legal claims covering virtually all areas of law. John had also identified an opportunity to enter the UK legal services market drawing on BridgePoint’s expertise with the adoption of the Ontario Model by the UK government. This led to the formation of SpectraLegal, set up to provide finance to the UK legal services market. He is the Chairman and CEO for BICO and SpectraLegal Finance Limited based in Ireland. He has published articles relating to emerging trends in litigation finance including third party financing for class action litigation and has presented at various conferences both domestically and internationally including the RAND Institute for Civil Justice Program dealing with Alternative Litigation Finance. He has a strong legal and financial background holding a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Toronto, and a law degree from Queen’s University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. John is a member of the Ontario Bar, having been called in March 1994.
Jim has decades of experience working with management to successfully raise and administer debt, equity and insurance to finance over $1 billion for knowledge based businesses offering unique services. He currently chairs the strategic advisory committee of an international multifamily office that he co-founded. He has been a director of several Canadian publicly listed companies where he sat on executive, audit, governance and compensation committees. Jim has also been appointed as a director to a number of BridgePoint affiliated entities including BridgePoint Global Litigation Services Inc., BridgePoint Indemnity Company (Barbados) Inc., and BridgePoint Indemnity Company (Canada) Inc. As well as having a BA (with Honours) from the University of Toronto, Jim has over 30 years’ experience in merchant banking, real property and strategic advisory services as both a principal and agent.
Steve has over 30 years’ experience advising the key participants in the UK legal sector including law firms, litigation funders, After the Event insurers, and banks. Prior to joining SpectraLegal Limited, Steve was Head of Baker Tilly’s Professional Practices Group in the North where he primarily focused on assisting law firms with their strategic decision making drawing on his extensive experience and relationships within the UK legal services market. Steve is a committee member of the ICAEW Solicitors Special Interest Group (SSIG) and regularly lectures on a range of issues for the ICAEW, Law Society and other organisations. One of Steve’s particular areas of expertise is assessing the profitability of law firms involved in litigation utilising CFA (and DBA) retainer arrangements and assisting them raise capital from banks and other sources of funding. Steve has advised on a number of high profile sales of law firms and on the structure and business model of many of the new ABS’s, especially post LASPO. Steve has extensive experience of the After the Event insurance marketplace and has worked with numerous firms to help them set up Captives. Steve is also an expert on LLP accounting and the taxation of Conditional Fee arrangements. 21
SPECTRALEGAL EUROPE
DAVID KNOWLES
MATTHEW GWYNNE
STEPHEN PAUWELS
Director
Director, Business Development and Client Relations
BA (Hons), MBA Principal & Co-Founder
Matt is Director of Business Development and Client Relations and has responsibility for supervising and managing the operations of the Business with specific reference to the development of client relationships, marketing strategies and expanding the product offering.
Stephen has been involved with the development of the business of BridgePoint Financial Services Inc., through its predecessor Withrow Capital Services Inc. and as a sole proprietorship, since December 2002. Since that time, Stephen has developed strong business relationships with the senior officers of several Tier 1 law firms throughout Ontario. In 2001 and 2002, Stephen was part of the European Industrial Technologies coverage group in the Global Investment Banking division of Deutsche Bank AG, based in London, UK. Prior to this, he was involved in numerous public and private capital markets transactions with the Corporate Finance Group of National Bank Financial.
David is a Director of SpectraLegal Limited, with responsibility for business development, sales and marketing programs, brand management, and corporate sponsorships. Prior to joining SpectraLegal, David has over 30 years’ experience in strategic business development and marketing within the insurance profession specialising in the provision of added value products and services to the international financial and professional services sector. Specifically, SpectraLegal will draw upon his seven year experience of providing litigation risk management and funding solutions throughout Canada. David’s greatest strengths are his creativity, drive and leadership. He thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand the company’s reach. His most recent project involves a strategic alliance between Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian First Nations, where he has facilitated partnering initiatives creating a revolving litigation fund in excess of C$100mm. Whilst a UK resident, David is a regular visitor and trusted advisor within Canada and he possesses a unique perspective of the developments and opportunities within both markets.
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BRIDGEPOINT FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.
He has a rich and varied lending background that has included areas as diverse as property, sports and media and commercial litigation and has over 15 years of client relationship experience. Matt was a key part of Investec’s involvement and entry into funding the legal sector and during this time he helped develop and implement innovative litigation funding solutions as well as creating other new financing products specifically for the legal sector. More recently at Standard Chartered Bank, Matt was responsible for building new products to suit the needs of partners of accountancy firms within some of the larger Bank relationships. Matt is comfortable with the intellectual challenges of generating innovative but prudent and secure solutions to client requirements. His experience has taught him that “one size does not fit all” but that few problems are insoluble and his primary objective is the identification and implementation of those solutions. This inevitably requires a close client relationship and the building of those relationships he regards as one of the pleasures of the position.
Stephen received his masters in business administration from the University of Toronto, and an honors bachelor of arts degree from the University of Western Ontario.
BRIDGEPOINT FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.
BRIAN GINSLER
JEFF DAWLEY
GRACE TSANG
HBA, MBA, CFA, CFP Principal, Chief Operating Officer
CA, CPA (Illinois) Chief Financial Officer
B.Sc., LL.B. Director, Legal Services
Brian joined BridgePoint in 2013 and possesses diverse senior management experience from the finance, investment and wealth management industries.
Jeff joined BridgePoint in 2012 and brings 20 years of diverse financial management experience from a wide cross-section of Canadian and international organisations. Jeff holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation from Ontario, Canada, a Certified Public Accountant designation from Illinois, USA, and a Chartered Global Management Accountant designation, recognised in the UK and USA.
Grace is the Director of Legal Services at BridgePoint where her role includes the evaluation of investment opportunities pertaining to class action, commercial and personal injury litigation, in addition to various internal legal administrative responsibilities.
He received his Masters of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School and his Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations. Prior to joining BridgePoint, Brian was the Chief Operating Officer of Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc., one of Canada’s pre-eminent wealth management firms, where he was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the firm, including new product development, marketing, human resources, systems & IT, trading and other major firm projects. While at Gluskin Sheff, Brian was also a senior member of the firm’s Business Development & Client Service team, seeking new clients for the firm and managing client relationships. Brian also brings extensive corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions experience from his previous roles as a member of the investment banking teams at CIBC World Markets and National Bank Financial.
Jeff has spent 13 years at large Canadian corporations in various financial roles, followed by the past seven years in senior leadership roles within entrepreneurial private or venture exchange listed companies. As Chief Financial Officer, Jeff played a key role in the initial public offering of a health benefit provider in 2006. In 2010, Jeff led the finance function for two Canadian-based international resource companies and recently, Jeff served as the Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller for a North American financial technology company.
Grace graduated from the University of Toronto in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree and obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1999. Upon her call to the Ontario Bar in 2001, she worked for over ten years in a full service firm in Toronto, practicing in a broad range of areas including litigation, estates and real estate. Her litigation experience includes work in the plaintiff personal injury field and class actions. Some of the notable decisions on which Grace has appeared include Logan v. Canada (Minister of Health), 2004 CanLII 184 (ON CA), where she appeared with co-counsel on the successful dismissal of an appeal from a decision which permitted the substitution of the representative plaintiff, and Logan v. Harper, 2003 CanLII 15592 (ON SC), where the plaintiffs were successful in obtaining further production from Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada.
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7. CONTACT US
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ENQUIRIES & CLIENT SUPPORT
LOAN ORIGINATION & FINANCIAL ADMIN
GENERAL ADMIN & SUPPORT
SpectraLegal Limited University House 11–13 Lower Grosvenor Place London SW1W 0EX
SpectraLegal (Ireland) Limited 2 Grand Canal Square Grand Canal Harbour Dublin 2 Ireland
BridgePoint Financial Services Inc. 133 Richmond Street West Suite 201 Toronto, ON M5H 2L3
T: +44 (0) 207 043 0746 F: +44 (0) 808 171 0044 E: info@spectralegal.co.uk
T: +353 (0) 1 518 0560 F: +353 (0) 1 518 0561 E: info@spectralegalireland.com
T: +1 888 800 4966 F: +1 416 941 9035 E: inquiries@bpfin.com
www.spectralegal.co.uk
www.spectralegalireland.com
www.bridgepointfinancial.ca