Dover: Access to capital
Money continues to pour into the litigation finance market, with one expecting to treble its investment to £250m in the next two years and another set to launch a $75m (£58m) fund.
Heirloom Fair Legal (HFL) said it has provided more than £25m of funding to law firms and claimants since 2022 but expected that figure to reach £75m by the end of 2025 and £250m a year later as it rolled out new funding solutions and structures.
It has also hired two well-known figures in the market: Steve Din, the founder of Doorway Capital and now senior vice-president of HFL, and Phil Hales, who was Doorway’s business development director and is now vice-president, funding relationships.
Mr Din also joins HFL’s investment committee alongside founder Geoff Dover and Rupert Purser, who previously set up Burford Capital’s Asia and Middle East operations.
In January, HFL launched its own alternative business structure focused on consumer claims and acquired data breach law firm Hayes Connor.
Mr Dover, who founded HFL with Canadian lawyer Beth Hirshfeld, said the goal was to resolve disputes “more quickly and cost effectively by combining technology, legal advice and finance solutions”.
He continued: “Heirloom Fair Legal’s backing has already had an impact in the market but we want to do more to support both claimants with good cases and the law firms and service providers that help them secure justice.
“We have access to capital through our private office and the expertise to deploy it.
“The addition of Steve and Phil shows how serious we are about this. At Doorway, they led the way in putting law firms large and small onto solid financial foundations.”
Mr Din added: “Heirloom’s larger infrastructure and bespoke approach versus what we had at Doorway allows us to provide more flexible structures and be more creative in designing funding packages that meet the legal ecosystem’s needs.”
Meanwhile, litigation funder Nera Capital – based in Ireland but with an office in Manchester and also Amsterdam – said it would shortly be launching a new $75m fund, having hit the milestone of $100m in investor repayments since its launch in 2011.
It has backed mass tort litigation in the US – such as a hernia mesh claim – as well as personal injury and commercial cartel disputes. It is currently supporting two European anti-trust cases with settlement values exceeding €20bn (£17bn).
Director Aisling Byrne said: “Surpassing $100m in repayments is a testament to the firm’s disciplined investment strategy and commitment to delivering on promises.”
This insurance should be more easily available to the public.