2020 Lawdragon Global 100 Leaders in Legal Finance
By Katrina Dewey | June 4, 2020 | Guides, News & Features
We’re proud to publish the 2020 Lawdragon Global 100 Leaders in Legal Finance.
This is our inaugural guide dedicated to the role of legal finance in law firms worldwide. We bring together pioneers of litigation finance, who’ve helped build this field for decades alongside young stars bringing technological tools to better funding assessment and results.
Litigation finance offers lawyers and clients the ability to seek justice that would otherwise not be attainable, while offering a lifeline in portfolio funding to law firms. As influencers on the legal profession go, it’s impossible to overstate the role of litigation finance.
We began recognizing outstanding litigation funders five years ago, and included them in our first four guides to top legal consultants and advisors. As funds have professionalized and grown to be key strategic relationships in global litigation, we recognized it was time for deeper reporting on this critical arena. As with all our guides, we relied on journalistic reporting, lawyer input, and vetting by clients and peers.
Headwinds buffeted the industry in the past 18 months, including the Muddy Waters inquiry on industry-leader Burford. Also of note are the acquisition of Vannin Capital by Fortress Investment and tie-up of IMF Bentham and Omni Bridgeway.
| Name | Company | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Cindy Ahn | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| Pierre Amariglio | Tenor Capital Management | New York |
| Craig Arnott | Burford Capital | London |
| Christine Azar | Burford Capital | New York |
| Isabelle Berger-Steiner | Nivalion | Steinhausen/Zug, Switzerland |
| Jack Blackburn | Bluewhite Legal Capital | Purchase, N.Y. |
| Eric Blinderman | Therium Capital | New York |
| Christopher Bogart | Burford Capital | New York |
| Daniel Bush | Law Finance Group | Mill Valley, Calif. |
| Allison Chock | Omni Bridgeway/Bentham | Los Angeles |
| Adrian Chopin | Bench Walk Advisers | London |
| Jeffery Commission | Burford Capital | Washington, D.C. |
| Owen Cyrulnik | Curiam Capital | New York |
| Marla Decker | Lake Whillans | New York |
| Christopher DeLise | Delta Capital Partners | Chicago |
| Patrick Dempsey | Therium Capital | New York |
| David Desser | Juris Capital | Chicago |
| Earl Doppelt | Bluewhite Legal Capital | Purchase, N.Y. |
| Lee Drucker | Lake Whillans | New York |
| Joseph Dunn | Fortress Investment Group | New York |
| Susan Dunn | Harbour Litigation Funding | London |
| Jay Eisenhofer | Bench Walk Advisers | New York |
| Roni Elias | TownCenter Partners | McLean, Va. |
| Timothy Farrell | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| William Farrell | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| Dai Wai Chin Feman | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| James Foster | Litigation Capital Management | London |
| Steven Friel | Woodsford Litigation Funding | London |
| David Gallagher | D.E. Shaw | New York |
| John Garda | Longford Capital | Dallas |
| Ian Garrard | Innsworth | London |
| Julia Gewolb | Validity Finance | New York |
| Adam Gill | GLS Capital | Chicago |
| Stuart Grant | Bench Walk Advisers | Wilmington, Del. |
| Alain Grec | Profile Investment | Paris |
| Jay Greenberg | LexShares | Boston |
| Christian Haigh | Legalist | San Francisco |
| Rosemary Ioannou | Vannin/Fortress Investment | London |
| Michael Israel | IVO Capital Partners | Paris |
| Mark Jacobs | Arrowhead Capital | New York |
| Sarah Johnson | D.E. Shaw | New York |
| Aaron Katz | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Jim Kearney | Lake Whillans | New York |
| David Kerstein | Validity Finance | New York |
| Mark King | Harbour Litigation Funding | London |
| Thomas Kohlmeier | Nivalion | Munich |
| Jules Kroll | Bluewhite Legal Capital | Purchase, N.Y. |
| Christoph Kuzaj | Therium Capital | Duesseldorf |
| John Lazar | Burford Capital | New York |
| Andy Lundberg | Burford Capital | New York |
| Jamison Lynch | GLS Capital | Chicago |
| Dana MacGrath | Omni Bridgeway/Bentham | New York |
| Ellora MacPherson | Harbour Litigation Funding | London |
| William Marra | Validity Finance | New York |
| Jeremy Marshall | Omni Bridgeway/Bentham | London |
| Timothy Mayer | Therium Capital | London |
| Kevin McCaffrey | Law Finance Group | New York |
| Iain McKenny | Profile Investment | Paris |
| Joshua Meltzer | Woodsford Litigation Funding | Wales, Pa. |
| Yasmin Mohammad | Vannin/Fortress Investment | Paris |
| Jonathan Molot | Burford Capital | Washington, D.C. |
| Wynne Morriss | Arrowhead Capital | New York |
| Hassan Murphy | TRGP Capital | New York |
| Marius Nasta | Redress Solutions | London |
| Jack Neumark | Fortress Investment Group | New York |
| Michael Nicolas | Longford Capital | Chicago |
| Garrett Ordower | Lake Whillans | New York |
| Sidney Oury | IVO Capital Partners | Paris |
| Molly Pease | Curiam Capital | New York |
| David Perla | Burford Capital | New York |
| Rein Philips | Redbreast Litigation Finance | The Hague |
| Neil Purslow | Therium Capital | London |
| Robert Rothkopf | Balance Legal Capital | London |
| Michael Rozen | TRGP Capital | New York |
| Aaron Rubinstein | Bluewhite Legal Capital | Purchase, N.Y. |
| Andrew Saker | Omni Bridgeway | Perth, Australia |
| Howard Shams | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Eva Shang | Legalist | San Francisco |
| Emily Slater | Burford Capital | New York |
| Mick Smith | Calunius Capital | London |
| Curtis Smolar | Legalist | San Francisco |
| David Spiegel | GLS Capital | Chicago |
| Christian Stuerwald | Calunius Capital | London |
| Ralph Sutton | Validity Finance | New York |
| Ruth Teitelbaum | Tenor Capital Management | New York |
| Raymond Tellini | Delta Capital Partners | Chicago |
| Sean Thompson | Parabellum Capital | New York |
| Raymond van Hulst | Omni Bridgeway | Geneva |
| Roland Vigne | IVO Capital Partners | Paris |
| Max Volsky | LexShares | New York |
| Ross Wallin | Curiam Capital | New York |
| Marcel Wegmueller | Nivalion | Steinhausen/Zug, Switzerland |
| Boaz Weinstein | Lake Whillans | New York |
| Mark Wells | Calunius Capital | London |
| Wieger Wielinga | Omni Bridgeway | Amsterdam |
| Aviva Will | Burford Capital | New York |
| Katharine Wolanyk | Burford Capital | Chicago |
| Louis Young | Augusta Ventures | London |
| Alan Zimmerman | Law Finance Group | Mill Valley, Calif. |
| Michael Zuckerman | Redress Solutions | London |
We’ve also included 10 Advisors to the Legal Finance Industry for a snapshot of the nascent field of brokers, attorneys, and others amassing to guide lawyers through the legal finance field.
| Name | Company | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Maddi Azpiroz | Claim Trading | London |
| Michael Kelley | Parker Poe | Washington, D.C. |
| Andrew Langhoff | Red Bridges Advisors | Bronxville, N.Y. |
| Steven Huttler | Sadis | New York |
| Nicholas Kajon | Stevens & Lee | New York |
| James Blick | The Judge | Irvine, Calif. |
| Charles Agee | Westfleet Advisors | Nashville |
| Barry Kamar | Westfleet Advisors | Nashville |
| Gretchen Lowe | Westfleet Advisors | Nashville |
| Michael Perich | Westfleet Advisors | Nashville |
