Liverpool-based boutique Provenio, formed by a group of former DLA Piper lawyers, has entered into a £50m funding partnership with Therium Capital Management.
Provenio, which is led by managing partner Mark Goodwin alongside two former colleagues from DLA, is looking to use the fund for high-value business litigation and arbitration claims.
Goodwin told The Lawyerhe is hoping to see the firm’s first funded claim with Therium set to go live in just a few weeks, with the pot’s lifespan set to last around three to five years.
“The category of cases that we are looking at are transactions gone wrong,” said Goodwin, who believes this arrangement will take his firm to the next level. “We can offer clients a fully contingent fee arrangement backed by funding that takes the cash flow burden and financial risk out of the case but maintains a significant return for the client on a successful outcome.”
The new litigation landscape being carved out by Covid-19 provides Provenio with the ideal platform to minimise the financial burden on clients, who are seeking to reduce legal spend while also recovering damages through the courts.
Therium’s chief investment officer Neil Purslow says this latest deal with Provenio is “very much of its time”. “Covid-19 is a natural hunting ground for a firm of this nature,” says Purslow. “We have enjoyed a successful relationship with the Provenio team for many years and, since its launch last year, Provenio has distinguished itself in the competitive litigation market.”
Discussions between Therium and Provenio kicked off not long after the boutique’s launch in 2019 when Goodwin was joined by former DLA colleagues Catherine Radcliffe, who was a legal director at the firm, and Hannah Catterall, who was a senior associate. It now boasts a total headcount of seven but Goodwin claims the firm is looking to grow over the next 12 to 18 months. It changed its name from Fortuna Law earlier this year.
Just last month, DLA made its own foray into the litigation funding sphere by launching a client pot worth £150m, financed in part by a new platform. The funding product is the result of a collaboration between DLA, Litigation Capital Management (LCM) and new third-party funder, Aldersgate Funding.
Aldersgate Funding will be led by former DLA partner Jim Holding, while the chair of its investment committee will be the firm’s ex-litigation chief Stephen Sly.
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