The 2023 Lawdragon 100 Global Leaders in Litigation Finance
By Katrina Dewey | March 31, 2023 | Guides, News & Features, Litigation Funders
Photo of Ayse Yazir by Eli Meir Kaplan.
We’re delighted to introduce the 2023 Lawdragon Global 100 Leaders in Litigation Finance.
These professionals have changed the balance in disputes worldwide through financial wherewithal. Far from encouraging litigation, they have ensured cases can be fairly fought on both sides. They have developed products and markets that hone the battlefield and provide a true conduit to access to justice.
The world of litigation finance has come so far in a relative moment’s time – something like 20 years. That’s when Harbour’s Susan Dunn became one of the world’s first litigation funders setting forth to create a market that didn’t exist. And while what we’ll call background noise persists, fueled by growth pains at individual funders and the market, it’s best not to lose sight of the big picture. Billions upon billions of dollars are flowing into dedicated litigation funders worldwide, alongside growing divisions of massive private equity and other funds. Large firms increasingly rely on funders to finance their entire litigation portfolio, and spinoff firms are created routinely because of the availability of funding.
The heart and soul of litigation funding remains in London, where risk entrepreneurs are helping lawyers pay bills while developing secondary markets in litigation finance. It’s no accident that the longstanding ability of consumers to bring claims from fraud to anti-competition in U.S. courts is finding a hold throughout the world.
Our guide features the remarkable 20 or so trailblazers of litigation finance, alongside the booming talent coming from finance, law and insurance that are carrying it forward, including Ayse Yazir of Bench Walk Advisors. Also included here, designated with an asterisk, are esteemed members of the Lawdragon Hall of Fame.
We selected those recognized here through Lawdragon’s proprietary process combining journalistic research, peer vetting and submissions. Lawdragon is an advocate of inclusion in the legal profession, and this guide is 32 percent women and 17 percent inclusive.
| First Name | Last Name | Firm | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cindy | Ahn | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| Pierre | Amariglio | Tenor Capital | New York |
| Craig | Arnott | Burford Capital | London |
| Hasan | Azizagaoglu | Bench Walk Advisors | London |
| Brandon | Baer | Contingency Capital | New York |
| Jonathan | Barnes | Woodsford | London |
| Jonathan | Barnett | Nivalion | Vienna |
| Jim | Batson | Omni Bridgeway | New York |
| Gavin | Beardsell | Omni Bridgeway | Sydney |
| Isabelle | Berger | Nivalion | Steinhausen |
| Matthew | Blumenstein | Statera Capital | Chicago |
| Christopher | Bogart | Burford Capital | New York |
| Stephen | Bolster | Litica | London |
| Erik | Bomans | Deminor | Luxembourg |
| Anastasia | Bondarenko | Fortress Investment Group | Paris |
| Clive | Bowman | Omni Bridgeway | Sydney |
| Fred | Bowman | Therium Capital | London |
| Lisa | Brentnall | CASL | Sydney |
| Simon | Burnett | Balance Legal Capital | London |
| John | Byrne | Therium Capital | London |
| Matthew | Cantor | Pretium | New York |
| Marc | Cavan | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| Wendie | Childress | Validity Finance | Houston |
| Dai Wai | Chin Feman | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Allison | Chock | Omni Bridgeway | Los Angeles |
| Adrian | Chopin | Bench Walk Advisors | London |
| Heather | Collins | Omni Bridgeway | Sydney |
| Jeffery | Commission | Burford Capital | Washington, D.C. |
| Tom | Conlon | Harbour | London |
| Mike | Cumming-Bruce | Bench Walk Advisors | London |
| Owen | Cyrulnik | Curiam Capital | New York |
| Tom | Davey | Factor Risk Management | London |
| Robin | Davis | Woodsford | New York |
| Marla | Decker | Lake Whillans | New York |
| James | Delaney | Erso Capital | London |
| Christopher | DeLise | Delta Capital Partners | Chicago |
| Brandon | Deme | Factor Risk Management | London |
| Patrick | Dempsey | Burford Capital | New York |
| Simon | Dluzniak | Therium Capital | Melbourne |
| Kirstin | Dodge | Nivalion | Steinhausen |
| Lee | Drucker | Lake Whillans | New York |
| Joseph | Dunn | Fortress Investment Group | New York |
| Susan | Dunn | Harbour | London |
| Allen | Fagin | Validity Finance | New York |
| Timothy | Farrell | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| William | Farrell | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| James | Foster | LCM | London |
| Steven | Friel | Woodsford | London |
| David | Gallagher | The Litigation Fund | Los Angeles |
| John | Garda | Longford Capital | Dallas |
| Alexander | Garnier | North Wall Capital | London |
| Ian | Garrard | Innsworth Advisors | London |
| Russell | Genet | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| Adam | Gerchen | Gerchen Capital Partners | Chicago |
| Julia | Gewolb | Validity Finance | New York |
| Adam | Gill | GLS Capital | Chicago |
| Tom | Glasgow | Omni Bridgeway | Singapore |
| Stuart | Grant* | Bench Walk Advisors | Wilmington |
| Laina | Hammond | Validity Finance | Houston |
| Robert | Hanna | Augusta Ventures | London |
| Lauren | Harrison | Law Finance Group | Houston |
| Oliver | Hayes | Balance Legal Capital | London |
| Louise | Hird | Therium Capital | Melbourne |
| Chip | Hodgkins | Statera Capital | Chicago |
| David | Icikson | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Rosemary | Ioannou | Fortress Investment Group | London |
| Tets | Ishikawa | LionFish | London |
| Charles | Jeffery | Harbour | London |
| Sarah | Johnson | The D.E. Shaw Group | New York |
| Aaron | Katz | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| David | Kerstein | Validity Finance | New York |
| David | Killalea | TRGP Capital | New York |
| Mark | King | Harbour | London |
| Stefan | Kirsten | KRD Kirsten. Risk & Disputes | Düsseldorf |
| Thomas | Kohlmeier | Nivalion | Munich |
| Lina | Kolomoitseva | LCM | Brisbane |
| Zachary | Krug | Signal Capital Partners | London |
| Christoph | Kuzaj | Therium Capital | Düsseldorf |
| John | Lazar | Burford Capital | London |
| Matt | Lee | Burford Capital | Sydney |
| Alex | Lempiner | Woodsford | Philadelphia |
| Chris | Leonardo | Gilbert | Washington, D.C. |
| Joshua | Libling | Validity Finance | New York |
| Andy | Lundberg* | Burford Capital | New York |
| Jamison | Lynch | GLS Capital | Chicago |
| Ellora | MacPherson | Harbour | London |
| Ian | Madej | Asertis | London |
| Hugo | Marshall | LCM | London |
| Kim | May | CASL | Sydney |
| Timothy | Mayer | LCM | London |
| Kevin | McCaffrey | Law Finance Group | New York |
| Ewen | McNee | Omni Bridgeway | Sydney |
| Yasmin | Mohammad | Fortress Investment Group | Paris |
| Patrick | Moloney | LCM | London |
| Jonathan | Molot | Burford Capital | Washington, D.C. |
| Siobhan | Moore | CASL | Sydney |
| Charlie | Morris | Woodsford | London |
| Hassan | Murphy | TRGP Capital | New York |
| Pip | Murphy | CASL | Sydney |
| Rosie | Murray | Orchard Global Asset Management | London |
| Jack | Naylor | Aristata Capitol | London |
| Jack | Neumark | Fortress Investment Group | New York |
| Angela | Ni | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Michael | Nicolas | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| Stephen | O'Dowd | Harbour | London |
| Emily | O'Neill | Deminor | London |
| Akram | Ojjeh | Swiss Legal Finance | Geneva |
| Quentin | Pak | Burford Capital | Singapore |
| Kory | Parkhurst | Harbour | Wichita |
| Mohsin | Patel | Factor Risk Management | London |
| Molly | Pease | Curiam Capital | New York |
| Michael | Perich | Lockton | Chicago |
| David | Perla | Burford Capital | New York |
| Rein | Philips | Redbreast Litigation Finance | The Hague |
| Stuart | Price | CASL | Sydney |
| Neil | Purslow | Therium Capital | London |
| Robert | Rothkopf | Balance Legal Capital | London |
| Michael | Rozen | TRGP Capital | New York |
| Rob | Ryan | Aristata Capitol | London |
| Nick | Sage | Bench Walk Advisors | New York |
| Andrew | Saker | Omni Bridgeway | New York |
| Charles 'Chad' | Schmerler | Pretium | New York |
| Grant | Schrader | Law Finance Group | San Francisco |
| Moshe | Schwartz | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Howard | Shams | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Nicole | Silver | Validity Finance | Washington, D.C. |
| Ajit | Singh | The Litigation Fund | San Francisco |
| Sindhu | Sivakumar | Innsworth Advisors | London |
| Emily | Slater | Burford Capital | New York |
| Kristen | Smith | Omni Bridgeway | Melbourne |
| Mick | Smith | Burford Capital | London |
| Ben | Smyth | Therium Capital | London |
| Cristina | Soler | Ramco Litigation Funding | Barcelona |
| David | Spiegel | GLS Capital | Chicago |
| Ruth | Stackpool-Moore | Omni Bridgeway | Singapore |
| Tom | Steindler | Exton Advisors | London |
| Tania | Sulan | Omni Bridgeway | Adelaide |
| Ralph | Sutton | Validity Finance | New York |
| Susanna | Taylor | LCM | Sydney |
| Raymond | Tellini | Delta Capital Partners | Chicago |
| Harshiv | Thakerar | Asertis | London |
| Sean | Thompson | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Emily | Tillett | Burford Capital | Hong Kong |
| Marjolein | van den Bosch-Broeren | Omni Bridgeway | Singapore |
| Raymond | van Hulst | Omni Bridgeway | Geneva |
| David | Walker | Deminor | London |
| John | Walker | CASL | Sydney |
| Ross | Wallin | Curiam Capital | New York |
| Justin | Ward | LCM | Sydney |
| Oliver | Way | Harbour | London |
| Marcel | Wegmüller | Nivalion | Steinhausen |
| Boaz | Weinstein | Lake Whillans | New York |
| Wieger | Wielinga | Omni Bridgeway | Amsterdam |
| Aviva | Will | Burford Capital | New York |
| Katharine | Wolanyk | Burford Capital | Phoenix |
| Andrew | Woltman | Statera Capital | Chicago |
| Allen | Yancy | LexShares | New York |
| Ayse | Yazir | Bench Walk Advisors | London |
| Louis | Young* | Augusta Ventures | London |
| Ella | Zimmermann | Swiss Legal Finance | Geneva |
