Litigation funder Therium poaches lawyers from top firms as it seeks to build up record lawsuit war chest
Litigation funder Therium Capital today said it had recruited four new lawyers from some of London and New York’s top firms, as it prepares to raise its largest war chest yet.
The firm has brought on board two new London lawyers – ex-Slaughter and May associate Chris Wilkins and ex-Michelmores associate Charlie Temperley – and two new lawyers in New York – including ex-Wachtell Lipton lawyer Joshua Card and former Cleary Gottlieb associate Corey Banks.
The hires come as Therium prepares to launch its largest ever litigation fund, after the Jersey registered firm raised £325m for use in bankrolling lawsuits in 2019.
Speaking to City PM, Therium’s chief investment officer Neil Purslow said the new hires are aimed at ensuring the litigation funder is “match fit,” as it prepares to pitch itself to investors in its efforts to achieve its largest ever fundraising round.
The hires will see the four lawyers take on new roles investment managers in Therium’s transatlantic investment team, in working to deploy investors cash by bankrolling lawsuits in the litigation funder’s main markets, the US and UK.
The fundraising round come as hedge funds, sovereign funds, and other investors continue to pile into the litigation funding market, in pursuit of high returns, and countercyclical investments that act to hedge their portfolios against the markets.
The efforts to raise the record sum also come as litigation funding has increasingly come to be seen as an asset class after UK laws were liberalised in the early 2000s to allow third party financiers to bankroll disputes.